This was better… Him still being followed was better than ‘that’…even if he was worried the man would appear out of the shadows one day… It was odd… Severo hadn’t attempted to use his powers since that first time.
Seri shook his head. Fear for what the man could do aside, this was still better… Because if he’d done it, then they’d actually have a reason to capture him. If he’d gone through with it…right there in front of his child…what freedom would he have then? Taking someone else’s life…what freedom would he even deserve?
So no, Seri would much rather have Severo alive and chasing him, than dead on the ground in that park.
Ah…just one more horrible memory to plague him daily. He sighed—as if he needed more…
Maybe instead of a new country settlement, he needed a new planet? New name, new planet…it made sense. But where? And would his plethora of new ID Passbooks continue to hold up? He’d already traveled once between planets. What if the CEB had flagged his picture? It wouldn’t matter if his thumb brought up another identity, with the help of the fake fingerprint caps they’d given him. Maybe it was time he told his mysterious lifesavers what and who he was running from…
Fuck, he really was putting a lot of trust in complete strangers who he had no names or faces for. Well, no name or face, beside that of the man, Quill, from the diner.
The suspicious number with those weird code words had worked for him so far. He definitely hadn’t expected that when he’d ended up in that dinky small town. And ithadworked each time. He requested a new identity, and soon enough, the things he needed were right there waiting for him at a drop-off location. Maybe…there was something they could do?
“BAH AH BAH!”
The loud but sweet demands of Skya brought him out of his musings. He glanced over at his girl in her car seat. She was frowning and waving her fists.
Her face scrunched further and she repeated her demands. “BAH AH BAH!”
Chuckling, he ruffled her short cyan curls. “Yes, Ma’am. As you command. Food first, then I can contemplate my internal dread, and this messy situation.”
“BAH!”
Seri shook his head and quickly got out.
Rushing around, he unlatched the seat from the car, the baby-mode shield all cars came with collapsing once he did, before pulling her into his arms. Seri slid back a panel on the baby seat, pressed the button for chest wrap mode, and smiled as it collapsed down until it was ready to be put on.
Technology was grand. The thing cost a fortune, but it turned into a crib, stroller, changing table, bassinet, chest wrap and back wrap, car seat, booster seat, and a highchair. Which, when one was on the run, was super convenient. Because hauling all that shit around would have been a nightmare.
Seri laid Skya down on the thing and it automatically wrapped around her, even as she wiggled angrily. All ready to go, he picked her back up and held her to his chest, smiling as the straps snapped into place around him, before a beep sounded, letting him know she was fully secured. Grabbing his gray diaper bag covered in yellow stars off the floor, he dug inside and pulled out a ready-made bottle, setting it up at the right angle between them for her to drink.
He giggled at Skya’s little grunts as she began to drink greedily.
His hungry little dewdrop taken care of, Seri slipped the bag on his shoulder, locked the car, and headed into the store.
Diapers, formula, food…the list ran through his head. He was pretty much running out of everything.
Seri nodded at the greeter standing on the inside, but walked swiftly past and grabbed a cart, intending to get in and get out as fast as possible. Maybe even off of this planet. Yes, the next location would be somewhere far, far away. And safe…well, probably not safe, but… He was allowed to dream, wasn’t he?
Reaching the baby aisle, Seri scanned the shelves, pushing his cart forward on spotting the formula he needed. Along with the self-preparing and cleaning bottles he wanted. Just add some power cells, the powder, and water, and the bottle would be ready in seconds.
The whole thing was controlled by a convenient remote that also had a button for cleaning, and a switch to lock the controls. Seri had made the mistake of getting the kind with the buttons on the bottle before this, and…Skya had accidentally cleaned her meal twice. She hadn’t been pleased, to say the least. Yeah, buttons on bottles…not a great idea.
He snagged a few containers of powder lab-made breast milk and some bottles, tossing all of them in his cart. Could he have both prepared the formula and cleaned the bottle himself? Yes, he could have. He’d even done so for the younger children back when he’d been in the orphanage… But it was just a bit too inconvenient when you were on the run.
Thinking on the orphanage he grew up in, he couldn’t help the bubble of anger that rose up. Seri had come so far on his own. He had worked his ass off to survive, day and night, to put himself through his Bachelors then Masters…and when he’d been offered not only a full ride for his PhD, but a guaranteed spot to join a well-paid research grant…he’d thought he had finally caught a break…
While he hadn’t been the youngest in the program at thirty, he had been the top student in the best Biochemical Engineering program in the world, after having beat out the thousands of others who were trying to get into the school. Though, thirty was still seen as super young to other Cryptids. It was just that not many Cryptids had been in the program.
But that didn’t matter now. Because he was here, running for his life, from a psycho and his government dogs, all while trying to take care of his child.
Correction, he was here trying to not screw up while taking care of his child. Which, after having almost killed someone, he had to say…it wasn’t going that well.
Meanwhile, he could barely close his eyes if the lighting was too dim without having a panic attack and flashbacks of Preston. Having an extreme fear of darkness made hiding a pain in the ass.
Seri shook his head and realized he’d probably just been standing there staring at the diapers for Goddess knows how long. Skya was finished with her milk, and was wiggling, looking around with interest now that her stomach was full. Removing the bottle, he put it away in his bag.
With a smile, he kissed her forehead. “Let’s get going, shall we?”
