CHAPTER TWO | " A METHOD TO HIS MADNESS "

"THIS MAY STING A BIT."

A gauze pad was dipped in a wound cleaning solution and then pressed on the injury. Nicholas quivered as the hydrogen peroxide touched irritated red skin. A quiet sob left his lips, grasping the edge of the kitchen counter he was sitting on. His big blueish eyes with a bit of green — a perfect mixture of his parents — were scanning mommy's luscious brown hair as she was sitting on a chair in front of him, trying to clean up her son's scraped knee.

Brienne gently wiped around the stricken area, "It doesn't hurt that much anymore, does it?"

Nicky shook his head as his mom looked up at him. The corners of his mouth shivered, eventually creating a smile which dropped a second after, noticing the way he was looking at her, almost as if he was looking right through her with his empty stare.

He sniffled which embraced the redness and the puffiness in his face. She slightly blamed herself for not giving him all of her attention but things just get out of hand so quickly, especially if she was in the middle of a conversation with her neighbor that couldn't keep her mouth shut. Brienne's little boy always seemed so excited when the family next door suggested having the kids play together because he could finally socialize more, although the expression of him enjoying things was lacking. Brienne liked that idea too, even though she refused to have her son stay overnight, she still wanted him to spend time with his peers, mainly because he seemed so sad the last few weeks.

The mothers enjoyed a glass of iced tea on the patio until the kids were called to have a snack. Brienne didn't hesitate a minute when the neighbor's kids ran toward them leaving behind Nicky's cries that resounded in the backyard. The eagerness of spending free time outside was instantly gone.

She put aside the pad and took a package of colored band-aids, "My mommy always told me that life is about learning to fall so you can stand up stronger."

Nicky quietly listened to those soothing words, completely missing out on the point of the saying. Sadly, he never got to meet his grandmother, the feeling of having grandparents was kind of unknown to him, however, he knew they were the kindest people in the world.

"Whenever you fall, something or someone will always pull you up back on your feet," Brienne continued, focusing on her son as she wanted so badly to brighten up his mood, "so you can start over on the right track."

She touched the tip of his nose, waiting for the most beautiful smile to reappear. Even though it didn't happen, she never lost hope. It was understandable for a three-year-old to be sad whenever they failed at something but this was different. He was too quiet and emotionally distressed. Brienne was wondering what was on his mind.

The box rattled as she was trying to blindly draw a few of the animal-themed bandage strips. She pulled four of them and let him pick out the one that will be displayed on his knee.

"Now tell me, sweetheart, which one do you like the best?"

Nicky glanced down, with shoulders all droopy. He examined the band-aids closely but any of them didn't catch his attention fully, "I want a puppy."

"I'll take a look but I am pretty sure we used all of them, Nicky."

Sparkles of anticipation slowly glazed in Nick's eyes. Of course, he wanted one with a puppy on it. That was one of the things he adored the most in this world. A puppy was already number one on every list that would grant him a wish come true. However, some of the deepest wishes remain secret because of their impossible nature, mainly because his mommy was allergic to dog fur.

His mom took a second to examine each of the strips to find one that resembles his desire until she found one, "It's your lucky day! This is the last one."

Brienne took off the plastic from the bandage and delicately pressed it onto his knee, "Ta-da! And you're patched up."

"It might take a few days to get to heal that scratch but if you eat some of these carrot cupcakes, you'll be fit as a fiddle." She uttered, pointing at the freshly baked sweets, "you're allowed to take two but don't tell daddy."

"Thank you, mommy," Nick uttered softly. He was taught politeness, so when Brienne heard such words her heart skipped a beat.

"It's nothing," she picked him up, quickly smooching him on one of the puffy cheeks. As she was about to put him down, he didn't let her. His arms wrapped around her nape, hugging her tightly as if she was never supposed to let him go. Mommy embraced him as much as she could. Kind of struggling, she pushed a chair to the table while carrying her son in her arms, "How did you get hurt? Did one of the boys push you?"

Nicky silently cradled closer to her chest to feel the warmth. Slightly covering his eyes as they entered dimmed living room. Brienne instantly reached for the light switch, despite it being late afternoon. Nicholas avoided these places as he was scared of darkness.

"What if you draw me what happened and I bring the cupcakes?"

He nodded.

Brienne put him next to the coffee table to which he happily sat down and was quietly waiting for her to bring the papers and crayons. As he had everything he needed, he started to draw what was on his mind.

"I'll be right back," she uttered and headed back to the kitchen.

"Is he okay?"

Brienne bumped into a kitchen counter, in a shock, as a voice resounded in the room. Her head sharply turned right to see the originator, only to see the golden sparks fading away, "Stephen! Can't you just use the door for god's sake?"

Surprisingly, the sorcerer supreme himself never learned how to use the door properly, even in his almost fifties. He ignored all the demands and never tried to fix up his mistakes. He got scolded every time he scared the heck out of Brienne (who occasionally managed to mess up a few dishes by spilling a pepper all over them, meaning she needed to start all over again).

"Sorry! I forgot. Just like you did. You left me on read when I asked you if he's alright, remember?"

Brienne scrunched her nose. He was right. She texted him just as soon as they went home from the neighbor's visit. When it came to Nicholas, everything was an emergency.

"He only scraped his knee," She explained and took a clean plate from the drainer onto which she started serving cupcakes, "I took care of it even without the doctor's supervision."

Stephen looked kind of unimpressed with her saying. He didn't want to have her feel that she must be always under his supervision. That wasn't true. Just this was Stephen's first time being a parent, a proper parent. River, Brienne's biological and his adoptive daughter was already in her adulthood, so clearly he hadn't the chance to experience the important moments of someone's childhood yet. This was his premiere, therefore he wanted to take a part in those moments as well so he wouldn't miss out on a single thing.

"He's fine."

He had the same expression.

"Look, Stephen... If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself," Brienne suggested, looking deeply into her husband's eyes as she picked up another cupcake and then shove the plate into his hands, "but don't ask him about how it happened. Just keep an eye on him and the paper. He will figure out the madness on his own one day."

"Got it," Stephen uttered as he was on his way to the living room, away from the running faucet.

Lukewarm water dripped on the dirty dishes. The circular movements of the sponge washed away the remains of the past and drowned them in the flowing water filling up the sink. 

Fariza exhaled loudly to show her fatigue because an evening cup of coffee didn't help at all, in fact, it made it even worse. She had to go to work after tomorrow but the thought of sitting in the office after the accident — responding to inquiries from the public — when there was a complete stranger staying in her house kind of scared her.

A feeling of sudden insecurity had terrified Fariza and the fact that both Stevie and Taehyun were still trying to prove her point, even though Fariza already said no, upset her, "I will repeat it one last time! This is not a hotel. There must be another way."

Fariza sharply turned towards Stevie who was sitting at the bar, unbothered, staring at her phone screen that was shining brighter than the highlighter in the inner corners of her eyes.

"What about a distant family? We could contact them—"

"Mom! He already said that he's from a totally different universe," Stevie interrupted Fariza from this stupid interrogation, "Which pretty much means that no one's related to him here."

"I know I know... It just — it doesn't make any sense. How does that even work?" Fariza mumbled.

"He's probably just obsessed with the ideas of shifting realities just like Steve," Veronica uttered as she passed by with a can of lemonade she took from the fridge.

Stevie rolled her eyes, "Why shouldn't it make sense? It's confirmed that many galaxies exist outside ours, why not universes? Just imagine all the possibilities!"

Her thrilled eyebrow raise gave others the suggestion that she's still interested in the idea that space is infinite, "Maybe somewhere in another reality dad married his high school sweetheart!"

"What is she talking about?"

Taehyun blinked with an awkward grin appearing on his lips, slowly scratching the back of his head, "I have absolutely no idea."

"So far this sounds more stupid than the theater play you wrote when you were thirteen," Veronica uttered with a sour grimace on her face as she took a sip of the cold soda.

"Shut up!"

"I'm just trying to say that there are many better things to discuss than making up these conspiracy theories—"

"Stop it! You don't even listen to me," Fariza sighed and continued washing the dishes.

"Mom, you're literally helping people on a daily basis and all of a sudden you changed your mind," Stevie uttered in a muted tone as she wasn't so confident talking this way to her mother. She always respected her passion for social work. Being a welfare officer must be tough, hearing all the heartbreaking stories and needing to come up with a solution on the spot needed proper praise.

"There's a big difference between working and being at home. I don't want to mix these two worlds together... Just like you shouldn't be mixing school and writing."

The comment forced Stevie to put away her phone which she locked, nevertheless, the flicker did reveal an opened document with text written down. Fariza knew that the bad grades came from her daughter's inattention in lessons as she was daily releasing chapters, sometimes two when she got the right inspiration, meaning that she was more active on social networks than at school.

"I knew that Veronica was snitching on me!" Stevie mumbled angrily.

"Dude, you wish that was me."

"Oh? Then who was it?"

"Dad mentioned it. Specifically, after you published chapter twenty-seven during your chemistry class."

"Oh," Stevie breathed out so casually, not bothered at all, until her eyes widened, trying to recall the very exact moment of her publishing that chapter. It must have been a few weeks ago as she was building up the tension in her Captain America fanfiction to finally surprise her readers with an unexpected epilogue.

Her eyes were darting even more as if they were supposed to fall out, "OH!"

"What? I am a big fan," Taehyun shrugged his shoulders.

Stevie's face now was flushed red due to the embarrassment.

"Forget it! That's not the point." Fariza shut her lips together, her hands fluttered with water dripping from them, "Stevie, I know how much you would like to help Nicholas, but let's be clear. With the blip and all the things happening in the world, he's still a bit of a strange guy, isn't he?"

Stevie scowled.

"Fine! Let's vote and see who's right then."

Of course, they managed to outvote her.

"I brought you the bedsheets," Stevie uttered quite confidently as she entered the guest room. The confidence was suddenly gone, "just don't mind the design. It's just... The other ones are in the laundry."

Nicholas winced, as a voice resounded behind his back. That slightly made him forget to cancel the spell for the Multiversal map that was illuminating his face. He stood up as he perceived Stevie.

"No problem with that. Thanks. I really appreciate it." He examined the Captain America bedsheet.

"Yeah... He's my favorite."

Stevie smiled, kind of backing away to leave him by himself, but she had to speak up her mind, "Also! Thanks for saving my fam, although they lowkey still find that you're from a different universe mind-blowing. It's okay tho. Anything apart from that is the tip of the iceberg for them. Except for dragons and unicorns. That is my tip of the iceberg."

"You know about the Multiverse."

"Oh yeah! Absolutely! I believe there are parallel worlds to ours, but not the worlds like in Riverdale, those sucks."

"That is not what I meant. You brought me here with your writing."

Stevie didn't understand a single thing he said, "Did I? I don't remember I wrote anything about the Multiverse. I had a dragon in mind. You know, the one from Hercules."

An unexpected hand gesture brought the map to him as if he pulled a few strings, "You pulled me from the universe where I encountered Grogg that stole the Eye of Agamotto and brought me right here."

He pointed at supposed Earth-616, her universe.

"Woahh! I didn't know I could do that," Stevie was fascinated and observed the map that seemed bigger than at first glance. Her mocha-colored eyes glistened in enthusiasm, prepared to reveal the secrets of other worlds, "I thought it was my imagination."

"Looks like someone has a very tough day down there." She pointed at the universes near the Multiversal void, mainly at a one that was slowly disappearing away thanks to the glitched-out fracture.

"Don't jinx it. I have to find the artifact and figure out the multiversal madness before it's too late. I can't afford to lose another universe."

"Another?" Stevie's eyes sparkled as she glanced back at him.

Nick nodded.

She owed him something and was ready to help, mainly if that meant saving the universe.