dontgetintherobot | IC Inbox (Noctium) WIP

Did I start a craving? Duly noted. I’ll be there shortly.

[And, after slipping by the local foliage abomination, he arrives in one piece- normally he was one for knocking but given how he still kind of lives here in his spare time… he just invites himself in.]

Father, I’m home!

[Look, if he even tries knocking to be let in dad would be so disappointed in him. And sad. So very sad.]

[THANKFULLY though Alfonse treats the place like the home it is, and he'll find Gaius setting up several dishes of takoyaki on the coffee table in the sitting room... Wait, why so much.]

Welcome home. Come on now, have a seat, and tell me which of these tastes closest to how you remember.

[Alfonse looked confused for a moment seeing so many dishes… and then it was all tako… yaki… oh.

Oh.

For the moment all he could do was stare. His father had done all this… just over some offhand comment he had made about his birth parents and…

And he was welling up. He brought a hand to his mouth to try and hide the tremble of his jaw, hoping he would be able to fight back the tears burning behind his eyes. Of course failing that, he just reached to pull his father into a tight hug, gently knocking a horn to his cheek with the motion.]

Thank you, father.

[At least this time, unlike all those years ago, he's prepared for the reaction.]

[Gaius lets Alfonse pull him into the hug, his own arms going tight around his son so that he can rub soothing circles into his back. Like this, he can let Alfonse pretend that he can't see the tears; Gaius can feel the tremors that overtake him, though, slight as they are, and he's smiling softly as he brushes past a horn to be able to press a kiss to the boy's hair.]

Don't thank me just yet, aye? We've yet to see if any of these are at all accurate.

[And another squeeze, tighter than the last.]

...I would have thought this would stop coming as such a surprise by now.

Edited 2022-09-12 07:26 (UTC)

I’m not surprised, I- [Knew better than to try and disprove that.] alright I am, but it’s just-

[He pulls back, smiling even through his red and puffy face.]

It’s just like the last time, isn’t it?

[The time his father had brought back something from his childhood. He’d only been a boy then, but he’d wept just the same.]

When I found those yukata for you and Allie.

You cried like I hadn't seen since the night I'd brought you both home.

[Much like he's doing now, though he's giving a most valiant effort to hide it. And Gaius loosens the hug just enough to be able to wipe away some of the tears that got left behind, that didn't already stain into shirt.]

[And his expression softens then, his smile somewhat sad.]

I didn't want you to forget your memories with them then, and I still don't wish for you to forget about them now. Any of you. You know this.

When I was young I was afraid it would be ungrateful for me to talk of my home before, and if I was ungrateful then I might wind up on the streets again.

[He separated when his father pulled back, but still sporting a big smile through those tears- that were finally spring thank goodness.]

When you brought us those yukata… I realized I had nothing to fear anymore.

[That had been what has overwhelmed him the first time, but now? He wasn’t sure entirely, perhaps it was just the memory of it all? He’d just go with that.]

The memories can still be overwhelming sometimes.

[Ah. So that was always his worry, back then.]

[Gaius hates that he can understand where such a fear comes from now, too. He shakes his head, his smile a little less, though his voice is no less fond when he continues.]

If I were ever that cruel, Rex would have been out the door far sooner than you, if you recall.

All I wanted was for all of you to be comfortable, after everything you'd gone through. So when you mentioned the festival that your parents used to attend with you...

Truthfully, I had thought at first I misstepped and upset you with the reminder, instead of helping you settle in.

I know now, father!

[He said with a laugh, but took a seat at the table.]

But back then, I was just so used to being afraid since Allie and I lost our birth parents. Afraid of what would happen to us, what we would eat, what we would do when it got cold… then you took us in.

[He looked carefully over all the varieties of takoyaki, looking for something that felt familiar.]

I just couldn’t shake the fear off until that day. It was a big weight off my shoulders.

[Picking one, he looked up at his father with a beaming grin, addressing something he’d mentioned.]

If only you knew some of the mischief I caught Rex in.

Oh? Are you saying that there was more mischief happening than everything I'd already caught him doing over the years?

[He knows the answer that that. He knows it's a great resounding YES, because this is Rex they're talking about, and Rex was causing mischief as he breathed. There's a bittersweetness to those memories, his heart still aching at the loss of his son...]

[But right now, with Alfonse, speaking of him doesn't cause his smile to fall. It's...better, to remember them like this, with happier memories.]

[And it's with that thought in mind that Gaius carefully grabs a small, wrapped bundle from the counter before he joins Alfonse at the table, sitting next to the boy and handing him the gift with great care.]

...perhaps you would be willing to show me what else I'd missed, then, if only because the curiosity will eat at me for the rest of my days if you don't.

Should he be the next one to arrive to this star, I promise that won't tell him you tattled.

IC Inbox (Noctium) WIP

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject