Declan Lynch | The Raven Cycle

[locoparentis]

Character: Declan Lynch
Fandom: The Raven Cycle

Comments

[dreamkid]

You can't just feed an army bottomless fries.

[ Matthew, that doesn't--

What does that have to do with--

Oh well, he's already pulling Declan around again, off the bus and onto the sidewalk. ]

That's where I work.

[ He points out a building across the street. ]

In a law office.

[ Declan will like that, right? Declan should like that. ]

[locoparentis]

[Declan looks puzzled when Matthew shows him that.]

A law office?

[As the mailboy? A courier? Not as anything that involves paperwork, because Matthew, bless him, will try hard but he fails just as hard.

And that's okay with this family because they don't care, but-

Lawyers?]

[dreamkid]

[ Come on, Declan. Matthew wanted you to be pleased! But he isn't brought down one bit by the puzzled reaction; he just goes on rambling cheerfully. ]

Yeah! I'm a paralegal intern. Mostly it's just filing paperwork and running errands, but they're still teaching me stuff.

[ Three months and they are still working on ethics. It's very confusing. ]

Everybody's real nice, most of the time. My boss is like-- mm, you know how a grandfather's supposed to be all serious and kind of intimidating but still looks after you? He's like that.

[ Of course the Lynch brothers don't have grandparents--Niall's parents are a mystery and Aurora's never existed--so Matthew is completely guessing here. ]

[locoparentis]

You mean like the grandfathers in movies.

[He laughs a little.]

Good job. I'm proud of you.

[dreamkid]

Right, right, like them.

[ Matthew just beams at the compliment. He leads Declan to the burger place, chattering the whole way about various things--his coworkers, school (which is over now, but he still has stories), the duck pond at the Meadows, some of his new imPort friends.

Only when they are seated in a booth, knee to knee, checking out the menus, does he finally look up and say-- ]

The Porter's weird sometimes, though. It sent Gansey back for one day here but he said it was way longer back home.

Ronan got Ported out for a week.

[locoparentis]

[There's a very very very brief pause.]

Yeah?

How was that week?

[dreamkid]

It was-- [ He shrugs a little. ] You know.

[ Declan does know, and Matthew knows that Declan knows. He's not testing Declan's truthfulness--he isn't clever enough for that--but he wants Declan to say something, too.

This is the first time both of them will have to acknowledge where Matthew came from, and Matthew wants it to be okay. ]

I don't remember it or anything.

[locoparentis]

You don't remember-

Any of it?

[He knows why. But he's not saying yet.]

[dreamkid]

No.

[ Matthew sighs just a little. ]

He was gone. Like, not in this universe anymore. I fell asleep. He explained why when he got back.

[locoparentis]

[Declan looks stricken.]

We didn't love you less for it.

[It's automatic, those words.]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew just as automatically reaches across the table to take his hand. ]

I know.

[ He's so sincere; he never doubted their love. ]

Ronan said you knew the whole time.

[ This, he thinks, is part of the proof. Declan knew the whole time and always treated Matthew like his little brother. ]

[locoparentis]

I was there. One day I had one little brother, and then the next I had two.

[He covers his mouth with his hand.]

Dad told me not to tell you. I thought we wouldn't ever have to.

[dreamkid]

[ That's--

Matthew looks down at his menu. ]

Why didn't Dad want me to know?

[locoparentis]

Because you came out of a dream.

He didn't want you think you weren't his.

Dad was really....worked up. About what was his.

[dreamkid]

Oh.

[ There's a little pause. Sometimes Matthew isn't sure how well he ever actually knew their dad. ]

It doesn't really matter though, does it? I'm still you guys', even if Ronan got me out of a dream.

[locoparentis]

He didn't want you to think otherwise.

He wanted you to be happy. He wanted you and Ronan to be happy.

[And Declan was the sacrifice for it.]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew's question really didn't have much to do with Niall's feelings, whatever they were. He wanted to know what Declan thinks. ]

I'm happy, [ he promises. ]

You don't care about it though, right? The dream-- thing.

[locoparentis]

I love you.

I love you no matter where you came from because you're my little brother, okay?

[He ruffles Matthew's hair, easily.]

[dreamkid]

[ That's everything he wanted to hear and more, and Matthew sighs happily, leaning into the touch. ]

I love you, too. I missed you.

[ He said it once but it seems worth repeating. ]

Oh, hey. I'm sixteen now. Sort of. I had my birthday here.

[locoparentis]

I missed your birthday?

What did you get?

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew beams and pulls out his phone, flipping through a bunch of pictures before he finds the one he wants and slides the phone across the table to his brother.

It's a picture of Matthew in his (parked) car; the top is down and he's leaning out the side and laughing at whomever was taking the photo. He looks ridiculously happy. ]

[locoparentis]

[He looks at it and he has an amused look on his face.]

Ronan get that for you?

[He knows exactly where it came from.]

[dreamkid]

Yeah! He made it. Everybody's kind of been teaching me how to drive.

[ He probably will have to tell Declan about the lake... later. For now, he just crosses his arms on the table and leans forward. ]

I want to be able to drive myself to school next year. If we're here that long.

[locoparentis]

I taught Ronan.

I'll teach you.

[Some part of that statement is a lie.

I taught Ronan.]

[dreamkid]

[ Matthew makes a little face and just says-- ]

Declan.

[ There's no reason to lie, Declan. Matthew doesn't hold it against him, of course, and just continues on pleasantly. ]

Dad taught him, right?

[ He kind of forgets to mention his power. ]