Private Training the Dinn Twins

[Ishani Dinn]

Thornwood Hall, Eliad
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"There." Eloise stood back, admiring the pillow fort she and her brother had constructed in the attic. Consisting of a bed sheet draped over the backs of two chairs, it was well-fortified with as many pillows, cushions, and stuffed animals as they could find.

It was past their bedtime. Marcus had been summoned from his bed by Eloise, and together the twins snuck up to the attic to play without their father's knowledge. The fort was Eloise's idea, though Marcus had overseen its construction.

"Okay, hopefully it won't fall apart..." Cautiously, she crawled in underneath the sheet, then poked her head out again. "Pass me the provisions!" she whispered conspiratorially.

Marcus handed her some snacks, drinks, and a few toys, then joined her inside the fort. Within seconds, Eloise yelped in pain. "Ow! You jabbed me with your elbow!"

Before Marcus could utter a word, she elbowed him right back. Her arm caught on a fold of the sheet, pulling it just far enough out of place that the "roof" of the fort collapsed. Marcus pulled the fallen sheet off of his head, running a hand through his red hair, then turned toward Eloise. She suddenly burst into tears.

"Louise, don't cry," he said. "We can rebuild the fort. It's easy."

"I don't care about the fort," she whimpered, hugging her knees to her chest. "I want Mom to come here."

Marcus patted her arm as she continued to cry. "It's gonna be okay."

"I'm scared that they're gonna get a divorce and go away and leave us with Grandma and Grandpa again. I just want things to go right for once..."

"No, no. Daddy said we'd just be here for a few days. They aren't getting a divorce." He moved closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "We're going back to Zaathru soon. I saw it happen in a dream."

"I don't wanna go back to Zaathru! I wanna stay here!..."

Marcus sighed and continued to hug his sister, until eventually both fell asleep among the pillows. Come morning, as sunlight began to stream through the attic window, Marcus stirred.

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Come dawn, the children were not in their beds. He had checked on them an hour or so after tucking them in and reading them a book, and they'd seemed sound asleep; clearly something had happened between then and now. A small shred of fear ran through him, and he stretched his presence out through the Force to try and canvas the Hall.​

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That fear fast abated, and soon a little smile was upon his lips. They were high above him, no doubt in the lofty attic space they'd claimed for themselves when they'd first come here to Eliad. Their playroom.​

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He wasn't expecting them to have been up so early, usually they slept in where they could after days of rambunctious play. Either way he soon entered and found them set beneath a sheet. Resting... He couldn't quite say sleeping, because Marcus' breathing wasn't entirely steady.​

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As he approached, he brought himself down to their level and raised a finger to his lips to indicate for quiet when Marcus no doubt saw him there. He could see Louise's tear-streaked cheeks, and his heart broke.​

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"Morning my little bed bugs," he whispered softly, hoping to rouse Eloise without startling her. Already he was formulating some sort of plan for the day, and had cast aside those he'd already made. "I'll have breakfast brought up here... It'll be just the four of us, okay?" Starlin of course would be fetched once he was awake. He was a very placid baby though, he'd never been much trouble where rest was concerned.​

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Ishani Dinn ​

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Marcus could hear his father climbing the stairs to the attic. He remained still, pretending to be asleep as the door creaked open.

"Morning my little bed bugs."

Eloise's eyes opened. She sat up quickly, abandoning the stuffed lothcat she had been clutching as if it were radioactive. “Morning,” she muttered.

Breakfast in the attic. Just the four of us. Marcus rubbed his eyes, then his gaze grew distant. “You want to start training us,” he said with an air of certainty. “Today.”

Eloise blinked, then looked up at her father for confirmation. Marcus’ visions were becoming more and more prescient with each passing day.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Marcus' statement had him first blinking, then chuckling slightly. "Nothing gets past you, huh my love?"​

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Reaching where they were, Arcturus lowered himself down to the floor before them, cross-legged, and smiled. "That was my plan, yeah, but... I'm thinking maybe we could do it unconventionally? That is, I mean... In a way you guys might enjoy it more, like, well, a game?"​

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He peered around the attic space, before his eyes fell back upon the little fort they had been working on.​

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"How about we strengthen the fort? Raise it to the rafters like a mighty castle!"​

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With that idea in their mind, he gently reached out through the Force and communicated with the kitchen staff. Breakfast would soon come, and once Starlin was awake he would be brought up too, but otherwise they shouldn't be disturbed.​

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Then he patted his lap.​

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"How are you both today? I know there's been a lot going on lately, and I'm sorry it's affecting you too."​

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Eloise Dinn Marcus Dinn ​

 

[Marcus Dinn]

“Some things do,” Marcus replied. “But not much.”

Eloise stared at her feet, wiggling her toes. A game? It sounded nice. “Okay,” she murmured.

Marcus nodded along, looking toward the fort. “With the Force?” he asked.

Their father patted his knees. An invitation. Marcus smiled, soft and a little bit wistful, then climbed into Arc’s lap. Eloise was more reluctant, though when she caved she flung herself into her daddy’s arms, squeezing her eyes shut.

"How are you both today? I know there's been a lot going on lately, and I'm sorry it's affecting you too."

“I’m okay,” Marcus said. “We’re okay.”

Eloise nodded, but she wasn't sure how to feel anymore. She didn't understand what had happened, or why Pharus had been so angry. It bothered her that she didn't understand...

Marcus, on the other hand, understood too much. He gazed knowingly at his father. “Pharus isn’t a nice person,” he said. “He’s full of hate. It was a good thing you did, sending him away and bringing his parents back. But his hatred is too strong. It will destroy him in the end.”

He blinked, his expression shifting back into a smooth mask of boyish innocence. “Can I have panna cakes for breakfast?” he asked.

Arcturus Dinn

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

He gave Marcus a soft hair ruffle, and once they were both in his lap he wrapped his arms around them and gave each a kiss atop their heads.​

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"Yes, love, with the Force" he said, as he gently rubbed Eloise's back. She wasn't taking any of this well, and frankly he couldn't blame her for that. Even strong little girls could struggle, and how things had been lately definitely leant themselves toward that.​

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"I love you, buttercup" he whispered to Eloise, "We'll be back with mummy again soon, I promise."​

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Marcus' sudden change of topic caught him off guard, and he looked from Eloise who was hiding in his embrace to his son in surprise. "You know about that?" Then he blinked, and managed a small chuckle. "Of course you do..." That begged the question of what else his little Prophet knew. In fact, the mere thought of it left a lump in his stomach.​

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Thankfully he was quick to change topics.​

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"Panna cakes..? Hmmm... Only if you have some fruit with it, okay love?" Then he peeked down at Eloise. "What about you, sunshine? Do you have any breakfast requests?"​

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Eloise Dinn Marcus Dinn ​

 

[Eloise Dinn]

Eloise’s fingers clung to her father’s shirt. He enveloped her in his strong arms, whispering assurances. She felt safe and warm with him, at least.

Marcus seemed a little embarrassed at Arc’s question, looking down at the floor as if he had said something he shouldn’t have. “I know a lot of stuff,” he replied with a shrug. Then he raised his green eyes to meet his father’s blue. “But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else about it. I promise.”

Eloise could hardly think about food right now, although once the choice was given to her, her stomach growled with hunger. “Fried eggs with onions and potatoes,” she said almost instantly. “And—and I want panna cakes with chocolate chips in them.”

“Oh, can I have blueberries in mine?” Marcus asked, rather taken with the idea. “And sausage and bacon.”

“What about drinks?” Eloise suggested. “I want a glass of milk.”

“I want apple juice!”

Arcturus Dinn​

 

[Arcturus Dinn]

Seeing Marcus' obvious embarrassment, Arcturus reached out a hand and very gently tipped up his chin. "It's okay, my little moon, I promise. You're a good and sweet boy, sometimes I forget how expanded your mind is. That's not a bad thing, okay?"​

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Pretty soon the conversation devolved into talks of a veritable feast. Arcturus looked between the pair, and then chuckled. "You sound like ravenous animals" he said, "Very well, a feast we shall have! Only fitting given that we'll be building a castle." Having relayed the kids orders, and a little something for himself, Arcturus turned his attention to the various sheets scattered about.​

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"Why don't we see about pinning the first sheet up into the rafters?" he inquired, very gently setting them both down onto the floor and rising up. "How much do you know about the Force? Have you ever felt it?" He knew for certain that Marcus had to have in some capacity, given all of his prophetic tendencies, but he asked them both all the same.​

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Eloise Dinn Marcus Dinn ​

 

[Marcus Dinn]

Marcus beamed. "I have a big brain."

"You have a big head," Eloise said.

Both cheered at the prospect of getting all the food they wanted. Then attention was turned to the ruins of their fort.

"Why don't we see about pinning the first sheet up into the rafters?"

The rafters? The twins tipped their heads back to look at the attic ceiling. It actually wasn't very high, especially for children as big as they were, though they would still have to stand on a chair to reach it. Eloise was already in the process of doing just that, stepping on top of one of the chairs they had used to prop up the sheet, when Arcturus posed his questions.

"How much do you know about the Force? Have you ever felt it?"

"Um..." Marcus did have an inkling of what the Force was, but he didn't quite know how to put it into words. "It's like... spirit energy?"

"Grandpa and Grandma said it was bad to use it," Eloise said with a scowl. "But I like to use it when they're not looking. It's fun."

"They took me to see a lady who helped to stop my visions," Marcus said. Unlike Eloise, he was more on the fence about it. Without the block, he had trouble focusing and was constantly distracted by the visions; taking them away had helped him to be more alert and present. "But I couldn't feel the Force afterwards." His connection had come back not long after he left Chaldea, along with the visions. Nowadays he was almost constantly seeing them.

"One time I almost choked a mean girl with the Force," Eloise bragged. "But then I decided to just use my hands to choke her, so I wouldn't get in trouble."

Arcturus Dinn