seekevolution | Summer

Matt, although a fair bit uneasy from the way Angela was looking at him (part distrustful, part reproachful, part, what, arrogant?) was yet again touching on the idea that maybe things were getting better. It had been a few days now since they'd started administering the vaccines and it was promising. That's what they all said, promising, not quite wanting to assume it was time for celebration, but by the looks of it? They could get everybody immune within a month or two. And after that, it was a matter of repairing. Rebuilding.

Staying fairly close to Mohinder just because, Matt watched Molly and Simon skip down the hall and up a flight of stairs. Okay, so not exactly skipping, but there was a bounce to both of their steps now at the prospect of having company. Something as normal as friends.

That alone removed any doubts Matt might've had about staying with the Petrellis, however temporarily the stay might turn out to be. And when Peter showed up, pressing himself against the wall to let the kids pass him with a soft grin only to turn it towards Matt and Mohinder in greeting, Matt felt himself relax even further.

He'd missed Peter and not even realized, so when Peter strolled over he was greeted with a hug and a shoulder touch.

"You look a lot better", Matt observed, somewhat warmly.

Peter tucked some hair behind his air and gave an easy "Yeah, you too", before he turned to Mohinder, all smiles. "Hey, Doc. Hear you did a pretty good job of saving the world."

Mrs Petrelli had a thoughful look as she watched that part of the exchange but Matt hadn't missed the apparent disapproval of the first, and he knew he'd have to apologise to her at some point. Grab her and talk to her. ... not literally grab her, she'd probably have his head - but he knew that he'd seriously invaded her privacy and he wasn't proud of it. He had to fix that if they were to stick around.

How come it's the moms that are always the scary ones? Zahra had been her own kind of intimidating, but Mrs. Petrelli had something very sharp hidden behind her gaze that Matt could only hope to placate by looking mild.

"I'd an entire team saving the world. I just provided the blood," Mohinder said, custom forcing him to sluff off the ego stroking like sand. He might have been grinning, however. Saving the world. Now that was something he'd wanted to do for awhile now, ever since Peter told him that strangely prophetic bit of information from the subway. Oh, he'd thought the younger man so foolish then. He'd been so skeptical, so rude and--

Well that was behind them now.

"We can't thank you again for letting us stay for awhile. I did some research and the school the boys attend is pricey, but--"

"But certainly in your price range these days, I've heard," Angela said with a half sneer. "Yes, well, unimportant. A phone call would have gotten her in as well. Come along, you look tired and if you're anything like my son, you must be hungry."

Monty, several years younger than Simon or Molly, had been left alone but Peter immediate picked him up. The Indian couldn't make out quite what he'd whispered to him but it was something along the lines of 'Younger Brother Club.'

And that would make sense. Younger brothers tended to shrivel a bit in the shade cast by their siblings. "Do we have lemon squares, grandma?" he asked in a little voice. She tutted.

"We do but you can ask your mother if you can have them."

Mohinder wasn't really prepared to meet Nathan's widow -- widow, though they'd been divorced? -- but she was already seated at the table, pouring tea when they entered and she was utterly beautiful. Disarmingly so.

"Doctor Suresh? Detective Parkman. Hello."

Beautiful, even stunning, in a fierce way that looked like it hid a lot of grief. Matt watched her for a short moment before he offered her a smile. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

She tilted her head slightly, eyes bright and focused, and listened to Mohinder echoing Matt's sentiments before she seemingly waved them off. "No need to ma'am me if you're going to be staying here", she said briskly. Matt could see how she must have been a great fit for her husband. "Tea or coffee?"

Peter sat Monty down at the table and passed behind Heidi, briefly landing his hands on her shoulders in a comforting and familiar gesture. There'd probably been several of those moments between them following Nathan and New York, but it didn't look like it was immediately needed here. Just something they'd developed because this family only really had so many members left at this point.

"Mom? Can we have the lemon squares?" Monty spoke up again and at Heidi's answering smile Peter announced his usual "I'll get it" and went for one of the cabinets.

It was an easy scene between all of them, but it left Matt feeling slightly out of his depth the way you do around new people at times until Heidi ordered both him and Mohinder to sit.

"Just Mohinder is fine." Dark eyes, blue eyes. Mohinder had never seen Janice but they haven't really lived near such a truly stunning woman before. Jealousy? Yeah, there was jealousy boiling in his stomach and he just couldn't figure out how to stop it. He was not at all talkative during tea, though he smiled and answered questions where required. Mostly, he helped to keep Monty's plate supplied in lemon squares and nibbled on a few himself.

They weren't exactly vegetarian, egg whites involved in the mix, but sometimes he cheated. No one need ever know. And he'd already had a bit of poison in his system today. Thank you, Heidi Petrelli.

The talk was mostly pleasantries. How was the drive, what was Fort Lee like, how was life after New York, oh you're so brave to have survived-- Mohinder was honestly shocked at the way he was taking it, but not quite as shocked as what came out of his mouth when Angela told Peter to show them to their rooms. Plural.

"We only need one, thank you," he said, a bit tightly. And yeah. Outed them both.

Matt was a bit more talkative, if only to try to shield himself from Angela's pointed look. Then again, Heidi had a version of her own that was quite intense, although for different reasons. She didn't seem calculcating or cold the way Angela might but she looked like she could see right through you.

At least Peter didn't have a set of eyes like that. And Peter was a good friend, keeping topic balls in the air whenever a pause cropped up that might be awkward or too heavy. Matt didn't find the experience too bad in the end and could answer well enough to small talk as well as lobby the questions back to whoever had asked them while looking - and being, truthfully - interested in what he'd get back.

So when Mohinder withdrew a bit into himself Matt didn't notice at first. When he answered in that clipped way that was kind of uncharacteristic of him, Matt turned to frown at him.

What he said was less important than how he said it, in this instance. Even though Matt looked a little uncomfortable from the way Angela raised an eyebrow, but he confirmed it, the "Yeah, that's right" said with his eyes still mostly on Mohinder's face, all question.

"Oh", Heidi said, seeming both kind of intrigued and mildly apologetic. "Sure, I don't see how that'd be a problem."

Peter shot a look at Mohinder as well but he brushed the topic off fairly elegantly; "I should probably get them settled. Keep an eye on them for me, Monty, make sure they don't kill each other."

He was so apologetic, in mannerism and look, though certainly not in word. In fact, Mohinder kept his foolish mouth firmly shut and even pressed his lips together as he followed Peter up the stairs to the second floor bedrooms.

"We've got Molly set up across the hall," Peter was saying. Simon and Monty are around the east wing with their mom and my mom. I'm at the end here. You can have either of the two rooms. Mohinder's is nicer," he gestured. "The view's better. Bed's a little smaller, standard queen and listen to me. Sorry. We use to come up here as kids. Way too big of a house for four people. It's really nice you guys are here with Molly."

Peter was such a nice guy but his mind was questioning, furtive glances cast between the two men who suddenly looked strangely ill at ease with each other.

"Um. Okay yeah. So there's a bathroom right here you three can share. Mom's got one in-suite and Heidi and the kids have one. Um... Fell free to walk around. The boat house is open."

And off Peter went, but not before reminding them that dinner was in two hours and that he was really glad they were there.

Mohinder was sorry to see him go. Once he was, however, he turned to Matt to say something and instead just headed into the room Peter said was nicer.

Thanks Matt shot at Peter as he left, because he deserved one. He deserved more than a thought, but at the moment, Matt was a lot more focused on Mohinder. The brief moment of not-quite eye contact before the younger man instead moved away from him into the room was kind of startling because it spoke against everything they'd become the last few days. Close, comfortable. Intimate. Not to mention a lot more trusting.

So Matt followed, reaching out as he had many times before to touch Mohinder's shoulder and by that try to make him stop, turn around, and look at him.

"What was that all about?"

And it probably said something about Matt's priorities that he really sounded confused more than anything else. There was an impatient edge he often had, but no accusation. No anger. Confusion reigned, because he really didn't get what was going on.

Mohinder actually had the good sense to look flustered and even a good deal embarrassed. "I-- That was inexcusable. I really should go and apologise for..." For what? For disliking the Heidi was beautiful? Mohinder pinched the bridge of his nose and held his hand out for Matt to take.

He didn't like being this uncomfortable. Why would they have secrets now? They loved each other, didn't they? Coming clean was the only option.

"I felt threatened."

By a beautiful woman. He would always be threatened by them, no matter how hard he could make Matt come. Or how much Matt truly wanted him.

"You didn't give a sign that you were interested in her but... I don't care to think that you might be. Ridiculous. I know. I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you..."

He took Mohinder's hand without hesitation, glad that they were facing each other now as Mohinder searched for words. When they came Matt wasn't sure what to think at first. Mohinder felt threatened? It was almost laughable, except the way he was talking about it meant it really wasn't. Or at least shouldn't be.

It was just - Matt was the one who should feel threatened. Mohinder was out of his league. To think that Mohinder would be jealous was something that remained confusing for a moment until it just felt so incredulous that Matt had to smile and roll his eyes.

"Really? You're jealous because she's pretty?" He stepped a bit closer, eyebrows raised as he looked at the younger man. "Mohinder, for being brilliant, you're incredibly stupid."

"I'm jealous because she's like me. Only yes. Pretty." And a woman. But there's a ready made family there. Children to love. The possibility of adding more children. Mohinder can't give Matt that. Even if that's so far down the road it's frightening to even think about. Mohinder squashes it.

Their relationship is new. Their arrangement is new. They haven't even made it a year.

"I'm worried."

He's lost before. It's right about this point of the relationship that things go sour. Feelings stray. People leave him.

His palms are so sweaty it's almost horrible to hold his hand, though Mohinder clings on. Clings so tightly it's like he's cutting off Matt's circulation.

That's when Matt's smile promptly disappears into a soft and more concerned expression, the frown reappearing around his eyes. Worried - about people leaving. About Matt leaving. And Mohinder's holding his hand like he's physically trying to prevent him from what he's already expecting him to do.

That hurts, but not really because it feels like a personal slight. More because Matt can't figure out why Mohinder would feel that way to begin with. He shifts his grip on their hands with a small sigh, but he holds on and hopes that's reassuring.

"Don't be. Alright?"

Matt gets it cause he's scared too. He's happy because he has a family (and no, he's actually not thinking about any differences to be made to what they already have), but knows that that also means he has something to lose. The haunted shadows from New York are back in his eyes but he seeks Mohinder's and he tries to be honest.

"Look, it's different and all, but ... I wouldn't tell you I love you if I didn't mean it. I want to be with you. And whatever you want to call this-" he gestures between them with his free hand, but something about his thoughts or maybe the way he briefly looks towards the door also includes Molly in the gesture, "-it's ... it's perfect to me."

There's a hint of a shrug in his shoulders. It gives a kind of helpless impression.

Though Mohinder's response was to immediately wrap his arms nice and tightly around Matt's neck and hold on to him, body flushed against his body, it didn't chase away all the uncertainty. He really loved this relationship and this family. He'd come to be almost completely reliant on it and since he'd brought Matt home from New York, the thought of losing him was a crack to the jaw.

It made breathing hurt. That sort of love never really got to him before.

He didn't mean to kiss the other man so desperately, large windows open to the Juliet balcony, wind swirling in the lace curtains. It just was. Desperate. Needy.

Matt obliged easily enough, hugging Mohinder close since there was absolutely no reason not to, but he didn't kiss back in the same fashion. He allowed the way Mohinder's kiss was almost frantic but he didn't reciprocate that - he was calmer, a little more distant when he exhaled through his nose and pressed his lips to the darker pair, maybe hoping that'd slow Mohinder down as well.

He didn't realize it, but he frequently tried to be the rock. Stable. This wasn't a situation to get worked up over, so after a while he lifted a hand to Mohinder's face and withdrew, then smiled a little again.

"Hey, remember that woman from the beach?"

Wow, that would never stop feeling like years ago.

The thought that Matt had been jealous of that tired woman who had perhaps let a look linger too long did make Mohinder feel better. They could laugh about their strange jealousies now, still touching, still close together. Their foreheads lingered, Mohinder still grinning stupidly. The beach. The beach was the last day of their happiness in a world where things could be normal--

No. He stopped himself. "We're starting anew," he said, pulling Matt towards the windows. They could see the lake and the boathouse over the trees, as Peter had promised. "I'll keep my jealous and my fear in check. You're...the best thing that's happened to me since I met Molly. I don't want to lose this."

Down by the boathouse, two little dots moved together, one with dark hair, one with light. Mohinder knew it was the kids and while having Molly so far away was almost distressing, he had to swallow it up. She'd not been allowed to do her own thing for months.

Why not let her play with Simon?

"Did you know my dad could fly?" the boy asked, picking up rocks by the water's edge. He had dark hair and eyes like all Petrellis, his mother's paleness not coming through. "And my uncle can do just about anything."

That touched Matt more than he knew to express, so he decided to joke about it. "Well, you pretty much marked your territory anyway." It was teasing, but there was a softness behind it that showed pretty clearly in how he let go of Mohinder's hand to place his on his lower back.

He too watched the children get to know each other, quite a distance away.

Molly looked at Simon for a moment, not sure if it was all that okay to say that she knew. She'd never forget watching Nathan fly his brother away and the way the sky lit up. Peter had been kind to her and she knew both Matt and Mohinder liked him, and she also knew he could do all kinds of things, but saying that she knew because she'd seen didn't seem right when she'd seen the older brother collapse on TV.

"Yeah", she said, and left it at that for a tiny moment, unconsciously picking up on some of Matt's mannerisms in the choice of word. She picked up a rock and threw it out across the water. It only skipped once. She tried to find a flatter one. "My dad froze things. He's dead, too."

It was the straightforward show of both comfort and understanding children possessed in a much simpler fashion than adults would ever hope to remember.

"Sucks," Simon offered, looking down and not quite watching her select her stones. "Did you like him? Like, was he nice?" Simon had a lot of questions, but Molly didn't seem to be too talkative about it. It wasn't too long ago, after all. For Simon, it was even less. At least he still had a family. Monty was a pain but... His mom was still here. Grandmother too.

Molly just had those guys they were living with. Uncle Peter said that they were her new dads. He didn't get how that worked unless they were gay. Sometimes the bigger kids would call him that too but he didn't care. They were stupid.

And now he didn't have to see them again. Mom was going to let them go to school up here. Suited him just fine since Molly might go too.

"Uh... Hey, wanna see a trick?" Simon turned around until he spotted a sparrow in a twig by the boat house. "Hold out your finger okay?" A few moments passed and that little bird glided from the branch to Molly's finger and chirped at her.

Molly nodded, kicking at the ground with a frown at the lack of good skipping stones. It was a way to avoid looking too upset, too. She'd accepted that her parents were gone. That didn't mean she didn't miss them sometimes.

"He was really nice. And funny. Sometimes he made it snow over the dinner table for us."

Having located another flat stone, she threw it across the water. It skipped better this time and she felt satisfied enough, so she went up to where Simon had gotten a little bit ahead of her.

She was met by a seemingly weird request, but she just looked at him curiously and then did as he said. When the bird fluttered over she looked amazed, eyes widening and a thrilled little smile surfacing.

"Can I pet it?" At the confirmation, she ran a careful finger along the soft feathers, looking at Simon again. "Is this your power? It's so cool!"

"Yeah. I mean, can't make em do what they don't want, but the birds like you. They think you're pretty." Oh, his mother would say he was just like his father. His grandmother would agree with a knowing smile he never really liked. She knew all sorts of things he didn't really want her to but she gave him nice stuff too. And she was really nice to Monty... Like he was her favorite. Well. He didn't get too upset over it. Monty was still a little kid.

Simon wasn't exactly a repressed child, but he'd been brought up to always be neat and always be on his best behavior. He owned too many suits for a person his age. They had too much money, his dad was too ambitious and hadn't really been around. Figuring out that he could talk to animals and have them sometimes listen to him had been a real boon.

He never felt lonely then.

The bird started to sing as Molly stroked it and a little rabbit hopped out from the bushes as Simon led her around back. "But you can't tell my mom, okay? Peter says she might be upset and Monty would cry like a baby."

Molly giggled, looking both excited and a little shy. "They do? You talk to them?"

Surprised by the birdsong, she held out her other finger to the bird so it'd change hands, so that she could hold it a little more comfortably while looking entranced with the bird and impressed by Simon.

When she spotted the rabbit she lit up even more, the "Aw!" loud and clear. She'd always wanted a pet and found rabbits adorable, and while she wouldn't consider picking an animal out of its environment, she was already a little bit in love with the one that had emerged from the bushes and was watching them with a twitching nose and upright ears.

She looked to Simon with a more serious expression though, when he wanted her promise.

"I won't tell. Do you think they're scared? Of what you can do?"

A few other creatures joined them on their walk. Another rabbit, smaller still, a few more birds and one very fat bumblebee. No one else was that interested, though Simon extended the invitation to everyone that could hear him. 'Speaking' to animals wasn't quite right. He could just understand them, but not telepathically. It was more like this silent scent of a conversation, where they could just understand each other. He had no way of explaining it. Peter understood though.

Peter could do the same thing now that Simon showed him how. It was easier that way. Peter just...didn't really find joy in it like Simon did. He generally just flew around or teleported here or there. Some powers he liked more than others.

"I guess. I mean, Monty would be scared. And mom. People that don't have abilities don't like us," he said. Yes. He knew about Molly. Or knew that she had an ability. Peter whispered it in his ear and told him to cheer up when the SUV came up the driveway that morning.

"That's not true", Molly said, immediately. "Mohinder likes us. He saved me."

She knew he liked them because he told her all the time that he loved her, and she could tell that he loved Matt too, even though Matt was scary sometimes without really realizing it. So she also understood why it would be easy to be scared. It was easy to be scared when you had an ability too since things kept happening, so maybe it was the same kind of fear. A big one that things would happen that might hurt you.

She took great care to not step in the way of any of the animals and after a moment the bird on her finger took flight to fly alongside them with the other birds, and Molly turned to walk backwards for a moment to look at all the animals.

"There were some people who wanted him to help me get my power back, but I don't think he would have tried so hard if he didn't like me."

Actually, Simon knew exactly why. He just wasn't sure how to say it. He'd overheard sometimes when his dad was speaking and he'd learned at a very young age just to keep his mouth shut. Mohinder might like her, but he might have liked the money too. And the people wanted to give her her power back to use her. In politics, it was always about who owed who a favor. Simon didn't want to be sour. He was already a little too serious and he didn't cry a lot when his dad died. He was trying to be the man now.

Even if Uncle Peter kinda took that over. That was fine. Listening to his mom cry was terrible. Listening to Monty cry made him want to ask ravens to carry his baby brother off. Man, it sucked having a little brother.

"I guess. Well that's really nice then. It's cool to have a new family any way. And I'm sure Mohinder's really nice. But he doesn't understand." Simon, attempting to be cool, was sort of being cold. He waved his hands and the animals all went back to what they had been doing. He offered his hand to Molly instead, an attempt to win her back. "Wanna see the coolest thing?"

Molly was different even if she didn't know it. She'd never been surrounded by obligations or neglect. She'd been loved and hugged and joked with and played with, and that had scarred her really badly when it had been taken away, but then she'd gotten it back, just with different people. She was for the most part at least still a girl where Simon was trying to be grown up.

She could see that from the way he acted, but she didn't understand why. She frowned at him. She didn't like that, that Mohinder might not understand because he wasn't like them, because even if he didn't he could still be there for her and love her, couldn't he? She didn't see the problem but it was obvious to Simon that one existed.

With the way he made the animals scatter it seemed oddly ominous. Molly wasn't scared, but she was observant.

Still, she accepted his hand, even if slightly cautiously. "Okay."

Simon was all smiles as he half dragged her a long down the path away from the boathouse until they came to a clearing to the left. It was quiet there, the big house no longer in sight, and the woods were almost silent save for the chirp or two of birds and insects.

The clearing, however, was not empty. A large tree rose in the center with a two story treehouse nestled in it's branches. "My dad and grandpop built this for Uncle Peter. Monty's too afraid of it. But there's a rope ladder and a slide in the back!"

As ominous as Simon might seem, he was just trying to be nice here.

"It's kind of empty. It was too cold to be up in there until two weeks ago and Uncle Peter keeps saying he's going to help fix part of the roof but he's busy." Excuses. Adults like to give them. "Do you like to climb?"

... okay, forget ominous, at least for the moment - Molly was officially won over. Her smile returned as she tilted her head back to look up at the tree and the structure there and she let go of Simon to come up to the tree trunk and touch it, looking for foot holds. There were the usual pieces of planks nailed in at the base to help you get started before you got the branches and when she found them and Simon's question reached her at the same time, that smile grew into a grin.

"Yeah!" she said with a tone that could have just as easily sad duh. "Everybody likes to climb! Come on!"

Molly hadn't actually been too much of a tree climber back home because there hadn't been a ton of opportunity, but she was so excited to actually play a normal game again, do something normal just for fun. And she was curious and liked to explore, so why not a tree house? It looked really big, and like a lot of fun. She still thought talking to animals was cooler, but the tree house was a close second.

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