Kalos had worn her favorite sweater, overlarge and with a rainbow riot of sequins on the front in the shape of a star. The idea was that in her favorite sweater, she was more brave.

This had not turned out to be true despite her attempts to believe it.

Kalos had made it outside for all of 4 minutes before she felt like the sky was falling. The coral girl staggered and crouched and it did not make it better. Or maybe it was that the sky was spinning and it would go under her and she would fall off the earth? Just looking up and seeing a vast void of lightness and nothing was terrifying. What even was holding her onto the ground here? Air?

She scrambled to the nearest tree and made for ABSOLUTE certain that she would not fall up into the sky by hugging the trunk.

(tag: Cafas)

Cafas sighed and turned pleading eyes to the sunny blue heavens. He wasn't a believer, but he was running very short on other options he could think of. Everything else started involving discipline, and he really wasn't in the mood. "Rowan!" It came out far harder than it was meant to, which shook him, "Rowan what did I say about throwing things at the pigeons?" The X-dad raised a stern eyebrow at the boy as he approached, but it was clear he wasn't being taken seriously.

"I dunno..."

"You do know, I made you repeat it back."

"I forgot."

The boy had him fixed with a smile that knew it was being cheeky, and knew it wouldn't be punished. Well Cafas had some news for that smile. He'd been dating Mom too long to be CafDad always too nervous of overstepping. He was CafDad the white, who knew Maya would forgive him if he was too harsh, because parenting was hard and confusing. Rowan still hadn't fully grasped that, clearly. Still, he wasn't being allowed to walk all over dad any more, and his behaviour when alone with Cafas was improving, little by little.

Baby steps.

"Rowan, please don't lie to me," His dad voice needed work, his dad squat did not, "And please don't throw anything at the pigeons. They get scared, and they feel pain, just like you, and it isn't nice to make them feel that way." He was trying his best to keep the actual frustration out of his voice, because there was a lot of it, and he wasn't enjoying repeating himself. "You never know, one might be one of us, and there'll be big trouble if you throw things at other people. So, you're not going to do it again, or there'll be no phones for a week, understand?"

Rowan's smile faltered in confusion, then there came a wibble, a sniff, and the tears. He didn't like not getting away with things. This wasn't the first waterworks Cafas had been the reason for. He suspected it was just the shock, and a plea to escape trouble. At least that was what Maya said, and he had no reason to doubt her. They didn't last long once it became clear the X-dad wasn't backing down.

"Okay dad."

The boy was playing him, he knew it, but damn if that didn't suckerpunch him right in the heart with happiness. Cafas let some of his tension vent as a sigh, pushed out by the swelling of love. "Good. Now come on, we gotta make it back from our walk in time to meet mom, and you already ran further than I said." God the kid was good. He had to stop falling for that trick, it was so cheap. Cafas stood and straightened his (fan made) X-men hoodie, and insisting his jeans a little higher. "And try not to get any more grass on your dinosaur shirt!"

He wasn't listening. Ro ran ahead, startling the pigeon flock into the sky as he bowled through them. It was exasperating, but Cafas didn't so much mind that. At least it wasn't going to hurt the birds if they only had to relocate. It just wasn't worth the fight.

---

Rowan left dad behind, racing off to see how far he could get before he got in trouble. He ran and he ran, checking behind to see how far he was.

So far! He heard Cafas call out, but it wasn't angry, just a warning. It didn't count.

Up ahead he saw something. Someone holding a tree. They were all pink and in a sweater. He didn't know what they were doing, it looked weird. Maybe it was a game and they'd play with him. He bet he won!

As fast as his legs could carry him, ignoring the second warning, Rowan ran to the tree. He tugged on the sweater. "What are you doing? Is it a game? I wanna play too!" He insisted, tugging the sweater more.

The world was spinning and Kalos had to squeeze her eyes shut in order to not be sick. How did people live up here with so much air? How did anyone look up at the vast void of nothing that was the sky? Standing was too hard. She felt faint, but she didn't dare let her shaking legs collapse, otherwise her fingers that were dug into the trunk of the tree might mean she floated off into the incredibly uncontrolled openness of the sky.

She wasn't there. She was looking at herself. She wish'ed she'd never set foot outside.

> "What are you doing? Is it a game? I wanna play too!"

"Noooooooo." HE WAS TOUCHING HER SWEATER!!!! WHAT IF HE PULLED HER OFF THE TREEEEEE?


"Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease." She wanted to say that the tree was the only thing keeping her grounded. She wanted to say that she was scared. She wanted to go inside. But once she'd started saying please it was like she couldn't stop. It was the word her brain had latched onto and it was the only thing that would come out.

She was stuck.

"Rowan, too far mate!"

Nothing. A harsh sigh of frustration tore out between his teeth. Of course he wasn't listening. Again. Already.

It's the Mansion at least. He's as safe as he's going to get.

The X-man took to a light jog to close some ground.

"Roawn!"

He was going to need to have another word with the boy about listening to him. He was going to have to be the bad guy. He didn't want to be the damn bad guy; It felt like it undermined everything Cafas had been doing to earn Ro's love. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remind himself that Rowan was still a kid, and this was just a thing kids did. It wasn't terribly helpful for his rising frustration, but it certainly would temper his response.

The boy had stopped by someone holding a tree. Was that the girl Maya had mentioned? It was certainly possible. Cafas picked up the pace.

---

Ro didn't like her. She didn't want to let him play her game. That was mean. He wanted to play, she should let him, that's what adults said to him.

"You gotta!" He spoke over her pleasing.

"Why are you saying that?" He didn't understand at all. He tugged her sweater more to make her pay attention to him.

"Is it the game?" Ro tilted his head.

---

Cafas could see Rowan tugging the girl's sweater. He sighed again and picked up the pace, covering the ground quickly. Rowan looked at him confused as the X-man reached down and removed his son's hand from the girl's clothing. "Sorry sweetie; Rowan, we don't pull people's clothes." He squatted down so he could fix Rowan with a warning look. The boy had the good sense to look guilty.

From a lower, closer vantage he could fully appreciate the situation. The muttered pleas, the way the girl gripped the tree, the tone of her voice. Cafas frowned in concern. "Hey, what's wr-"

"She won't let me play. I asked and she said no!"

Cafas turned his eyes back to Ro, frustration showing. "Please do not interrupt me Rowan." He emphasised each and every word.

"But you always-"

"I know what I say, Rowan. Please let me talk to her."

Seeing the shock and injustice in the face of his boy would have been bad enough if he didn't have a genetic advantage at puppy dog eyes. Cafas crushed the stress and hurt that brought him right down for later. At least he'd shocked some quiet into the kid. The X-dad turned back to the coral girl. "Sorry hon, what's wrong? Do you need help?" Not that he could see how, she wasn't more than an inch up the tree. Still, who could tell with kids? Sometimes they just needed to be show they weren't actually in danger

---

It wasn't fair. She was meant to let him play, but he got in trouble. Cafas was being mean and unfair. Why wasn't he nicer than Mommy any more?

He didn't talk, but he glared at the stupid tree girl. Why was he being nice to her and mean to Rowan? She was the one that did the wrong thing.

> "You gotta!"

Her pleases changed tone from please stop to please understand and back to panicked please stop when the child tugged at her again. Was this a test? She would hold out for as long as it took for a hero to arrive and to hold the sky in place for her.

And a hero did arrive. At least, most adults seemed to be heroes here and this was an adult. The adult would know how to make it stop.

> "Sorry hon, what's wrong? Do you need help?"

Whatever a hon was, Kalos was happy to be it so long as it belonged inside.

"I'm stuck!" She wailed the words and then cringed away from the sound. She hoped beyond hope that her words were understandable, she did not feel very understandable. She didn't quite understand how any of this worked.

The being stuck to the tree was 100% her choice. The being stuck underneath the tree was not.

"If I let go of this tree I'm going to fall into the sky." She was a complete mess of snot and tears and her legs had long given out so that her fingers had scraped lines of bark from the tree and her fingers were embedded quite firmly. Even if she wanted to let go (which she did not), it wasn't likely that her fingertips would be coming off the tree easily.

"You can't fall into the sky, that's dumb. There's gwravty"

Cafas shut his eyes briefly to unclench his jaw. Kiddo was not helping the situation one bit. "Rowan, if we have nothing nice to say, we say nothing." He spoke with forced patience. The boy really could stand to learn some tact. He had time though. For now it was just a matter of Cafas trying to keep a lid on his tactlessness. It turned out that was more work than he could have expected.

"But there is!"

"Yes Ro, there is, but that doesn't make it nice to call people dumb. Now hush please."

Hush, now there's a Maya word.

It was a quick exchange, but it was still longer than Cafas would have liked. Rowan glared and pouted churlishly at him, but held his tongue for the most part. A few muttered words under his breath that Cafas didn't want to take the time to deal with. The X-dad turned back to the coral girl. "It's okay sweetheart, look." Cafas indicated to himself, not holding onto anything, "I'm not falling into the sky, and I'm pretty strong. What if I hold onto you, then you can let go of the tree, and you can keep hold onto my hand until you feel safe?"

He tried to sound reassuring, but it was hard to do past the building frustration with Rowan's lack of empathy in the situation. Kids, why couldn't they just be mini adults? Actually, he knew similar adults. At least with Rowan there was still time and an excuse.

He was making up words. Even the adult said so. Kalos started to free a hand to fend off the tugging, but then realized that she needed that hand to hold on to the tree. It went right back where it belonged keeping her from falling up.

The child would bicker all day. That was what demigod children did.

"I need the help from your hero." She insisted to the boy. If he couldn't understand that then he really was trying to kill her. Going across the span of open grass between here and the back door to the living room was an insurmountable problem. One that she could not possibly do alone.

> "It's okay sweetheart, look."

At first she shook her head. Looking made it all so much worse. But maybe his powers only worked if she could see? Perhaps he was Atlas and would hold the sky in place. She didn't want to condemn him to hold it forever. Just a few minutes so that she could run back inside. She opened one eye. Just a crack.

What she saw was a big, curious set of jet black eyes.

He wasn't some spoiled demigod kid. He was some spoiled gorgon kid. Just like her, but a little bit shorter. Not much, but she'd claim it. It took her another moment to look past the curious boy to the demigod hero she'd expected to see. Except he had at least one thing to endear himself to her beyond arms that looked strong enough to keep the sky up.

"Pink hair." She marveled. It was almost enough to distract her from the vast, open blueness of the beyond behind him.

Almost.

> "I'm not falling into the sky, and I'm pretty strong. What if I hold onto you, then you can let go of the tree, and you can keep hold onto my hand until you feel safe?"

"If you hold on to me, who will keep the sky up?" She tried to wipe her face on her shoulder. Terror was messy business. Holding on to someone didn't sound bad in theory, but the sky was her main concern.

>>"Pink hair."

Good to know it was still his most eye catching feature. Still, the girl seemed to like it, so that was certainly helpful in the situation. She'd also called him a hero, which was once again incredibly useful if she thought of him as one.

I mean... I guess that's a common misconception.

>>"If you hold on to me, who will keep the sky up?"

Cafas preemptively held a finger up to Ro. He'd heard the boy intake breath. Ro sulked more, which just promised to be fun for the rest of the night. Cafas would have to apologise to Maya. He just wasn't returning with a happy Rowan as often any more. More often than not he was returning with a difficult, grumpy Rowan. That hurt, but it needed to happen.

Something else needed to happen too. Cafas had to get the young coral girl somewhere she didn't need to cling onto a tree. Inside by the sound of it. He also needed to figure out how she thought he was meant to be holding up the sky. It was incredibly flattering and all, to be compared to Atlas and Hercules, but it didn't do the girl any good to continue believing that. For one thing, it did nothing to help her fear of falling into the sky. That one needed addressing, it wasn't healthy at all.

"The sky doesn't need me to hold it up. It holds itself up. Anyway, if I could hold the whole sky, I don't think you're heavy enough to make me drop it. You just gotta trust me on this." That was the best reasoning he had. It was hard, because as far as he knew he was dealing with a girl from Atlantis. Her reasoning could be completely different. It was a distinct possibility that she had been taught myths about how everything worked that he was just playing in to.

He offered his hand. "No matter what, I promise not to let you fall into the sky, or the sky to fall onto you."

---

Rowan grumpily glared at the girl. He hoped she fell into the sky! She was making his Cafas be mean to him. Why was he being nice to her?

She was just being dumb, and Rowan knew, and Dadfas knew. Why was Rowan in trouble?

"I'm going to Mommy! She can make the sky fall on you!" He shouted at the stupid girl.

Teary, Rowan began to storm away.

As much as Kalos wanted to ask why the sky was up and not falling, it didn't make her feel better now.

Kalos shut her eyes and buried her face against her arm. He asked her to trust him. He was an adult and living here, that meant he was a teacher or a hero, both of which should be trustworthy. With those muscles, there was no way he was a teacher. He was a hero. Heros were for trusting. But then demigods were not for trusting... Not. At. All. Especially not the men who had handsome jawlines. They stuck those chins out and would defend them no matter how wrong.

> "No matter what, I promise..."

Now she had to. If she didn't, it would be the most insulting.

"Please go get your gorgon." Could he not feel the drag of the open sky above them!? He was going to fall up any second now! "Please. I need... I need a hero my size." There! The perfect answer presented itself! This hero could hold the sky and she could hold onto the owner of those jet black eyes. It didn't matter that he was looking like part dog. Even if dogs were scary, gorgon were not. And boys who were children were not scary. It was when they grew up to be men that they became terrible.

Rowan storming off, while a little frustrating, wasn't terribly scary at the Mansion. If nothing else, Sam would freeze them solid. That might just be getting off light.

>>"Please go get your gorgon."

Gorgon? Cafas hadn't seen Andrea in forever, which was a terrible shame. Maybe if this child was asking for her it wasn't too late to rectify it.

>>"Please. I need... I need a hero my size."

Well that certainly didn't make sense. Andrea was certainly not the tallest woman he knew, but she certainly wasn't childlike in stature. Puzzled, Cafas opened his mouth to ask exactly who she meant. It proved unnecessary. He'd been trawling through his memory of the mission reports, and Maya's account for the girl's name when the word Gorgon had shaken loose a memory. Gorgon. Visible mutant, as best as he remembered. She clearly meant Rowan.

"Oh, you don't have to call him Gorgon, his name's Rowan, he's my son, sort of." He really didn't quite know how to phrase the reality. "His mother and I are dating, and she sort of lives with me, and he lives here, but his father is gone, and he needed me, and I needed him, and here we are" didn't exactly roll off the tongue.

With every second of indecision, Ro got further away, and likely wound himself up more and more. He didn't think Rowan would be easily convinced to help, but if that's what it took to get the girl somewhere she felt safe, he'd just have to figure it out. "I'll be right back." The X-man smiled reassuringly and set off after the sulky boy.

---

Rowan stomped away, turned to check if Cafas was following, then stomped away more. He was being ignored, and he didn't like it.

Mommy wouldn't ignore him. She'd be mad a Dadfas for losing him!

He looked back to see if he was still being ignored, and to glare at dad.

Dad was much closer than he'd expected. Rowan was almost startled out of his grump.

---

He could try an emotional appeal. It wouldn't be terribly fast though. Not that they weren't already running late. He'd need to tell Maya, it was starting to get that far behind schedule.

She'll understand.

Cafas caught up, and dropped down to sit on his haunches. Maybe a game? Time to decide, mouth already open. "Rowan, bud, no don't storm off, come back please." Rowan swung around again and glare-pouted at Cafas. The X-man resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Lead by example and all that. "Hey, is that how the Rescue bots treat people when they're scared? Or X-men?" Rescue bots was dated, but it was the best example he had. Apparently it was Grumpy Avians now. Cafas hadn't been aware that was even a TV show, but there it was.

"No..."

It was grudging, and Cafas was certain it was about to be followed with some comment about not even liking rescue bots. Which was a lie, and Cafas wasn't a fan of those. He once more held up a finger to hush the snark. "You remember when you thought there was a monster in the closet? You needed me to go check and take it to jail? How would you feel if I'd just said it was dumb and there was no such thing? Not good right? Now, you can't unsay things, so I need you to go back and hold this girl's hand until we get back inside. Rescue her from her monster, and then we can forgive you for being mean to her, and we'll all be proud of you for being so nice."

Well, it was the best he could do. He didn't have that much experience, so he was basically winging it.

---

Rowan glared at Cafas, then at the tree, then back at Cafas.

Then his face softened and he felt sad. He wouldn't like it, and Mom wouldn't like it, and Cafdad didn't like it.

Heatwave wouldn't like it.

He wanted Cafas to like him and be proud of him.

He nodded, then wandered back ,and somewhat reluctantly held out a hand to the girl.

"You can hold my hand so you're not scared"

> "Oh, you don't have to call him Gorgon..."

She didn't have to, but it was only polite. After all, that was what he was, and in Kalos' opinion there was nothing better. She made note that the gorgon child was named Rowan and that the perfect hero demigod only sort-of claimed him. Kalos did not blame the child for stomping away. Not one bit. Especially when the adult was being so unreasonable about his status as father. Was it so hard for a demigod to claim a gorgon child?

> "I'll be right back."

"Good." He was a hero. Heroes abided by their words. And extra good that he would put in the leg work to care for his gorgon son. Maybe then they would reconcile.

Kalos flexed her fingers against the tree, on the absolute brink of exhaustion from being too tense for too long. Now that the hero had stepped away, her distraction and worst of all, his shadow and imminent help were missing. She started trembling anew and kept her eyes shut tight.

They would come back, they would come back, they would come back.

And once she heard the reluctant footsteps, she sobbed with relief. She felt she'd aged another year by the time she pried open an eye and saw a greyish hand with raised pink calluses.

> "You can hold my hand so you're not scared"

She didn't hold his hand. His hand was not enough. If she let go too much and for too long, she would fall.

Kalos let go of the tree all at once and bravely turned to latch herself onto the boy.

"Thank you for being my hero." She buried her face into his shoulder which wasn't too far down at all despite their age difference. Her arms wrapped around him in a desperate hug. They were both small... but neither was falling.

It was because they were underneath the tree! The tree was holding up the sky!

Kalos left her fingertips wedged into the bark of the tree. There had been no time to free them. She tried her best to keep the blue bits that demigods did not like to see inside the coral covers she had left to her hands. As a result her fingers were mostly all one knuckle shorter.

"Please hold up the sky, demigod? Or find something to block it? Please?" They could run then, arm in arm, and not be in danger. The hero needed to agree to be the tree!

He was a little worried when the girl threw herself onto Rowan, but despite his flinching the boy did Cafas proud. Maybe he'd gotten through to him. Maybe he expected some kind of reward out of it all. Honestly, Cafas couldn't bring himself to mind either way. It was just nice to see him helping someone. Made Cafas all warm and hopeful inside. He didn't want to raise an X-man, the very thought made him uneasy, but if he could raise a good person he would consider it a win.

---

She held him too tight. He pulled back a little, but he didn't want to make Cafas mad at him.

Then she called him a hero! Rowan beamed with pride.

Despite the cooties. Tommy said they would turn him into a girl.

He didn't want to be a girl! He was a puppy!

---

>>"Please hold up the sky, demigod? Or find something to block it? Please?"

Cafas really wasn't sure how to handle that one. He supposed he could just treat it like one of Rowan's games and just go along with it. "Sure hon, I'll hold it up for you. You can call me Cafas instead of Demigod though. What should I call you?" The X-man stepped up and put his hands above his head as if to hold up the sky. He could do it. He was just playing Atlas in the girl's imaginary scene. Except she wasn't playing, she was scared.

So near, Cafas couldn't help but notice the fingers clinging to Rowan seemed particularly short. Shorter than they'd seemed when he'd just been talking to the girl. The X-man frowned. They seemed almost like they'd snapped off at the tip. He searched the ground, but eventually found what he was looking for on the tree. If she hadn't been so clearly a mutant he might have been more worried. Actually, he was still kind of worried. He didn't want to freak her out though. In his best calm adult voice Cafas, still holding the sky up, tried his best to phrase his question as best he could. "Um, sweetie, your fingers, are they okay? You seem to have lost the ends."

---

Fingers? Rowan looked at his behind the girl's back. His were fine.

Was she a sweetie too? Wasn't that just their family? Their family were sweeties.

Not Jude. He was Jude the Dude to Cafdad.

Rowan tried to wiggle free to see what had happened to the girl's hands.

He squiggled and squiggled, tried to turn his head, how could he look if she wouldn't let go?

"I wanna see! What happened to her hands?"

FINALLY! He understood and did as she asked. Kalos loosened her grip on the boy gorgon Rowan, but unless there was a ceiling or some overhead protection she was absolutely not letting go.

> "...You can call me Cafas instead of Demigod..."

This one sure was hung up on names. Which, once Kalos had the courage to look him over properly, she figured that was probably a good thing. Names meant they were more equal. Him wanting to learn hers and insisting on Rowan's meant that he saw them as people deserving of names. Not only gorgon.

"Kalos is my name. Thank you for rescue hero Cafas and... hero Rowan." She loosened her grip again ever so slightly. The demi— the Cafas seemed concerned about her fingers. Kalos kept a wary eye on him incase he decided to change his mind about keeping the sky up. It might not fall, but she still felt entirely disoriented and exposed outside. Outside was just terrible. She would have to find a sunny spot to sit inside in order to feel the sun.

> "Um, sweetie, your fingers, are they okay? You seem to have lost the ends."

"I am not hurt, hero Cafas. Can we run inside? Talk there?" Her knees were weak. Actually she felt like the goo gorgon she'd served in the sewers with: boneless and formless and like she might just melt down and not stand up any more. She wasn't sure she could run, but she sure as Stix would try to make it while the sky was being kept in check. Kalos backed off enough to offer only her stubby-fingered hand to her hero Rowan.

It was a novel idea to have a gorgon hero. It made her attempt a muddled smile.

Rowan wiggled more because he was winning. He wiggled and wiggled but couldn't see.

He wiggled some more, but stopped suddenly to pose.

She called him Hero Rowan. The boy grinned ear to ear. He was a hero! She'd said.

It wasn't good enough for Cafdad though. He had to be a hero with manners.

---

"You're welcome miss Kalos." Cafas smiled, and gave Rowan a tiny nudge to encourage him to stop just looking smug, and perhaps be polite. He stared down the cheeky glance, his smile unmoved. Rowan capitulated quickly.

"You're welcome."

It was bright, but Cafas felt likely begrudging. Whatever, it happened. So long as it became habitual, Cafas didn't much mind it being begrudging for the time being.

It was a relief to know that Kalos' fingers were, at least in some capacity, meant to do that. She really didn't seem overly bothered by it all. Perhaps shy, but she'd seemed that from the get go. "Yeah, we can run inside. Rowan, try to remember you're holding someone's hand and not tug okay?" It definitely needed saying. Cafas had no doubt about that.

---

Running inside? That sounded like fun!

Plus, now he could see her fingers! Sort of. They felt short and hard and sharp.

He could kind of see that they were missing bits. Weird.

Whatever, they were running! Rowan nodded enthusiastically at Dad's instruction.

"Okay! Let's go! Ready steady go!"

Rowan took off as fast as he could go.

---

Cafas had seen that coming, but his main concern was keeping up with Kalos. He had to make sure the girl felt safe. Rowan was fine, she was not.

She had said run. She meant run run. But her legs did not want to run.

Kalos took five long steps after Rowan and the tree ran out of leaves. The sky yawned terrible and endless and open. Rowan tugged forward and Kalos balked, paralyzed as soon as she realized what was above her.

Hero Cafas was holding the sky. It was supposed to stay up. She was wearing her best sweater, the one with sequins. It was supposed to give her strength when she was feeling out of sorts.

Rowan tugged her another step forward and the coral girl became acutely aware that she'd eaten today and that in eating, she exposed herself to the risk of losing her lunch.

"Noooo." Kalos let go of the rest of her fingers at Rowan's next tug and crumpled down to the grass. Even with her nose pressed into the dirt, everything was spinning. On top of her head, Kalos folded one hand with fingers too short and one hand made of 5 squirmy blue tentacles that faded together at the wrist. She knew her best chance was to get inside. She just couldn't seem to do it.