𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 (𝐎𝐂)

FIFTEEN

Homelander stepped back into the house, his eyes scanning the cozy interior. He moved with an unsettling casualness, like he owned the space, even though his presence filled it with tension.

Ryan and Julia were seated at the dining table, hunched over their math worksheets. Ryan, with his pencil clutched tightly, chewed on his bottom lip in concentration, while Julia quietly scribbled numbers and equations without a word. None of them looked up as Homelander entered, though a slight stiffness ran through Julia's shoulders as she sensed a presence.

"Well, well," Homelander said in an almost sing-song voice, breaking the silence. "Look at you two, working hard, huh?"

Ryan glanced up, with a small smile, but Julia remained focus on her work. Homelander leaned on the back of Ryan's chair, his presence looming large over the table.

"What are we working on?" He asked, leaning in as if genuinely interested.

"Math." Ryan mumbled, still looking at his paper.

Homelander chuckled, ruffling the boys hair. "I knew that, buddy. Anything in particular?"

"Just fractions."

"Fractions, huh?" Homelander straightened, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Well, I guess even super-powered kids have to learn the basics." He turned his attention to Julia, who sat quietly across from Ryan, her pencil moving in quick, precise strokes.

"What about you, Julia?" Homelander asked, his voice softening as if trying to draw her in. "You like math?"

Julia didn't respond right away, her eyes fixed on the worksheet. Her silence stretched for a moment too long before she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "No."

Homelander's mouth turned up as he laughed. "Wow. I see you're not one to hold back your honesty, huh? You certainly take after your big brother I would say." He tilted his head, studying her for a moment. "You don't like it because it's boring, or because it's too easy for someone like you?"

Julia didn't answer, her gaze still fixed on the paper, her pencil slowly circling the same number over and over.

Homelander's smile faded slightly, his tone turning more serious. "You know, you don't have to hide how smart you are. You've got something special in you, Julia. Just like me. You don't need to pretend to be like everyone else."

At this, Julia finally looked up, her eyes meeting his. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but before she could, Becca's voice cut her off.

"They need to focus, Homelander." Becca said sharply, stepping forward with a stack of papers in her hands.

Homelander leaned back from Ryan's chair, his hands raising in mock surrender, though was irritated at the interruption of his sister who was about to speak to him. "Alright, alright. Don't want to distract them too much, right?" He gave Julia one last look before stepping back. "I'll let you get back to it."

Becca's gaze followed him as he wandered into the adjacent hallway, her body tense, wary of his every move. She wanted to tell him to stop, to leave, but she knew that challenging him openly would not end well for her. Instead, she walked over to the table and sat down beside the kids, gently guiding them through their problems, her fingers trembling slightly as she flipped the pages of their math book.

But, eventually, he returned to the table, where Becca had her arm resting protectively across the back of Ryan's chair. Julia's expression was distant, as though she were a million miles away, her pencil still moving steadily across the paper.