(The four kids come back to his café again. Fortunately, Xanthous is not in any life-threatening danger this time.

Unfortunately, he's not alone.

Xanthous makes some kind of strained smile, ignoring the strangled, high-pitched sound Liam is making, and the way Daniel's nails are digging into his arm.

"Holy shit," Daniel says weakly, voice just barely above a whisper. "Holy shit, you weren't joking."

Xanthous exhales, albeit nervously. "Heh. Yeah, I wasn't."

Sparky raises a hand tentatively, giving a sort of awkward wave. His siblings whisper furiously amongst themselves from behind him.

"Hi there!" Sparky says. "I'm Bolt, and these are my siblings," he turns around to his siblings, who each wear a different degree of shock on their faces, "Blaze, Whipney, and Morph." He points to the respective sibling as he says their name.

"Huh, those are. . . Interesting names." [At least Xanthous won't have to use any stupid nicknames to refer to them anymore.]

Bolt shrugs. "Those are just our hero names."

Daniel's fingers tighten their grip. Xanthous gently places his own hand on top of theirs, attempting to say I know this is overwhelming for you, and, trust me, it is for me too, but please kindly stop stabbing my arm with your fingernails. Daniel slowly loosens their clutch.

[Xanthous is pretty sure Liam is doing the in-real-life equivalent of keyboard-slamming. Poor kid.]

[Daniel's hand clenches, so now that instead of pinching Xanthous' skin, he's taken a section of Xanthous' clothes and balled it up in his fist.]

Xanthous uses his free arm to cover his face. "You-You couldn't have planned this any better?" he asks the siblings. "Like, really?"

"Yeah, we've realized that, thank you for your input," Sunglasses-Morph says under his breath.

Xanthous exhales again. "Oh my God."

[Liam and Daniel get over their shock, eventually, each on their own time. Xanthous rubs his arm where Daniel had tightly gripped it.

"You guys are so cool," Liam blurts out. He recoils, making a horrified face at his ungraceful statement. "Shit-I mean-"

"Thanks!" Bolt beams at him.

They make awkward small-talk after that, each party just as equally uncomfortable as the other, before the four kids wave goodbye, and leave, the door swinging shut behind them.

"Dude," Daniel says, staring after them, "what the actual fuck happens in your café."

"Wouldn't you like to know, weatherboy-"])

(Xanthous isn't too sure himself.)

0-0-0-0-0-0

Xanthous has this really weird dream about New York.

Something about a gas-leak and the entire state being evacuated? And the president assuring the rest of the world that nothing is wrong when in reality she wouldn't be saying that if everything was fine? He's not sure.

It feels strangely real. . . But there is nothing about any kind of danger in New York.

No article. No video. No nothing.

So Xanthous thinks no more of it, and continues on with his day.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Xanthous nearly stabs himself in the eye when his phone suddenly blares, loudly, piercing the once silent air.

He carefully drops his contact back into the solution and answers his phone.

There's breathing on the other side.

"Hello?" Xanthous says after a moment.

"Hey, are you home right now?"

Sheila.

"Erm-" Xanthous quickly glances around, as if he were trying to find an excuse to say 'no', "yeah?"

"Are you busy?"

"No. . ."

"A'ight, I'm coming over."

He splutters, head whipping around to stare, horrified, at the electronic. "Wha-Why?!"

"I have something for you." (Xanthous can practically see her mischievous smirk. Oh no.)

"And you can't do this at the café, why?"

"Are you saying you don't want to see me?" Sheila asks, voice sounding hurt. (Is she pretending? If so, she's an amazing actor.)

"No no no, it's not like that-" Xanthous sighs. It seems like he no longer has a say in the matter. "Fine, you can come over. Just let me get ready first."

"Sir, yes sir," she says, voice perking up instantly. She hangs up after that.

Xanthous buries his face in his hands and sighs.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Xanthous opens the door for Sheila, who carries a bag with her.

"Heya," she says, waltzing in. She drops the bag onto a nearby chair, and it lands with a soft thud. She reaches in and pulls out-

"A box?" Xanthous gives her an unimpressed look.

"It's a music box," Sheila says. She makes it sound as if it made all the difference. She winds it up and lets it play.

They stand in silence as it plays, a soft lullaby coming out of the thing. (It's a bit out of tune, Xanthous thinks, but that makes it all the more charming, in his opinion.)

Sheila hands it to him. Xanthous holds it gently, keen on not breaking it.

"Thanks," he says.

"No problem," she replies. "Was looking through the thrift store and thought you might like it."

And he does.

0-0-0-0-0-0

On the inside of the music box, there is a small, dirty mirror on the lid, and a little figurine of what seems to be a princess is inside. The paint-job on the figurine is chipped and peeling, ruining the details, but from what Xanthous gathers, the princess has a long, deep purple dress, contrasting with her fair skin, and a river of chocolate brown hair flows down her back. A tiny crown sits on the top of her head.

The box itself is very plain and unassuming, with a simple flower shape imprinted on the top (he thinks it's a rose) and little flowered-vines edging along the sides of it.

It makes him think of fairytales, if he's being honest. He supposes that's why he likes it so much.

It truly is very beautiful.

Xanthous props his head up on his arms, staring at the music box as it tinkles.

He can't help but wonder how neat it would be if he could 'live a fairytale life', as they say. (Is it something people actually say, is it something he'd read from somewhere, or is it something he'd made up? He's not sure.) It'd be an interesting way to live, he thinks.

Once the music box has finished its tune, he closes it, gently, pausing and making a face at the noisy creak it makes. Xanthous' hand lingers, fingertips running across the smooth wood surface.

Xanthous picks it up and places it carefully on his bookshelf, making sure it won't fall off accidentally. He's just turned around to walk away, when a quiet, low humming sound fills the room.

Xanthous freezes

Fuck, is it coming from behind him?

Body tensed, he turns back around, slowly, and—

Holy fucking shit.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Okay idk how many of y'all still read this but like would u be interested in having the canon AU meet this AU

Idk I think it's a neat concept but I want to know if y'all would be interested in it

(Also if I do up writing it, just wanna let you know that's where the fic that inspired this comes in!)