Chapter Text
The purple fairy lounged on his bed, idly flipping through a compilation of notes. One month. It’d been one month since he failed his very first godchild and lost access to him. Development Devin Dimmadome- or Dev, as was the boy’s preference. Son of the wealthiest man on the planet, a child with access to practically any material desire he could think of. And an emotionally neglected, anxious, painfully lonely child who was in desperate need of real support.
Over the course of the last month, Peri had been trying to calculate where he’d gone wrong with Dev. A handful of small mistakes could be excused, he was new to this after all. But he’d located one particular connecting issue in their relationship. Peri had been so hyper-focused on the ‘fairy’ component of being a fairy godparent that he’d done a rather poor job of making good on the godparent side of things.
He could admit that Dev hadn’t made it easy, the boy was never very emotionally open with him. Of course he wasn’t like that with anybody up until Hazel, who miraculously broke down his walls somehow. Even so, just because it wasn’t easy to get to know Dev, it didn’t excuse Peri’s lack of effort to do so. He had tried to do everything by the book, to be a good fairy, to not be a rule-breaker.
Peri was only here because of a broken rule- well, technically a loophole in Da Rulez but it was close enough. Not that he wasn’t grateful for that, but it had caused an awful lot of trouble and chaos for his parents and fairies as a whole. His birth had done nothing to lift that restriction either, he was still the youngest fairy.
That was a big reason that he’d tried so hard to abide by Da Rulez. Peri wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that loophole wish and he wanted to prove that it didn’t define him. He would behave himself, be a good rule-following fairy, he wouldn’t cause any more trouble for Jorgen or anyone else.
And then he went and got assigned Dev as his godkid. The businessman’s son, unnervingly intelligent and well-versed in the ways of contracts and rules and most importantly, loopholes. Ruthless and unflinching in his demands, immediately trying to find out how much he could get away with, what Peri could actually give him.
So Peri had tried to give Dev what he wanted- or at least, whatever Dev wished for at any given moment. But that was all he’d done. A godchild must get what they want, that was one of the biggest rules. Which was precisely the problem.
Peri had only relied on Dev to tell him, as his fairy, what he wanted. He never provided anything unless asked first. And despite knowing the dynamic between Dev and Dale, Peri had failed to take a step back and consider what Dev actually needed, not what he claimed to want.
He had no doubt that Dev might’ve fought him on that. The few moments when Peri had attempted to get the boy to open up emotionally, they’d gotten nowhere. Dev would either wish for him to shut up, go away, or start wishing so much that Peri couldn’t focus on anything else. The fairy had stopped pressing the issue out of fear the boy would send him away permanently. How humiliating would that be- the prodigy, Periwinkle Fairywinkle-Cosma: He was so terrible at godparenting that his first kid dropped him.
It was a stupid and selfish thought in hindsight. Peri felt ashamed of it. He really really did want to be a fairy godparent so he could help kids the way his parents had. But he’d been so determined to do it on his own, without them butting in, just to prove that he could handle it… He refused any guidance from them until it was far too late for him and Dev. He should’ve talked to his parents more.
The kid’s needs always come first. You were a child not that long ago, you should remember better than most fairies- how hard it is to be young. And you had good parents, a good support system. Dev didn’t have any of that, you were supposed to be that for him, to be the adult he could count on instead of that bastard Dale. You need to do better, Periwinkle. When you get him back, you won’t make that mistake again.
There was one other thing about Dev. Something a bit curious, possibly just Peri overthinking things. All he’d really done for the last month is think and compile the information relayed to him from Hazel and his parents. So it might’ve been nothing. The thought held fast to Peri’s brain anyway.
It was sort of funny… Dev was strangely like Timmy in some ways. Peri’s godbrother was so notorious in Fairy World for bending, breaking, and finessing loopholes in Da Rulez that he was responsible for multiple new rules and clauses being created. All the fairies (and anti-fairies and pixies) knew who Timmy Turner was, which had made Peri and his parents equally well-known. He was mostly thought of fondly by the fairies- even by Jorgen, whom he frequently irritated, though he was loath to admit that.
Dev had not left such a good impression on the residents of Fairy World. He was definitely more of an infamous untrusted figure at this stage, not an ultimately good-hearted troublemaker. The similarities stuck out to Peri regardless.
He couldn’t help but wonder: If he’d held onto Dev, or perhaps if he got him back and managed to keep him long-term this time, would he have the same influence? Dev had the additional experience of business smarts and negotiation skills, allowing him to skirt rules with ease. Timmy had just been an average kid and he’d managed to get away with a lot, how much more could Dev be capable of with his specific knowledge?
It had been hard to leave his godbrother behind- No, that was underselling it. It had been brutally, excruciatingly painful to be forgotten by Timmy. As much as Cosmo and Wanda had loved him, they’d experienced this before with many previous godchildren, even if the majority of them weren’t as long-term as Timmy. Nobody would argue that it had been worse for Peri. He went mute for several weeks afterward, refusing to speak to anybody and only occasionally communicating with sign language or writing.
But eventually the young fairy snapped out of it, finally allowing himself the comfort of his family instead of blaming them. He went to therapy, he’d processed the event now, he was able to accept and understand that there wasn’t anything that could’ve been done to keep them together. That was how fairies worked.
Peri didn’t know where his godbrother was now. The only hope he had was that he and his parents impacted him enough that even with the standard memory erasure, he’d gone on to live a good happy life. Cosmo had mentioned that they’d accidentally run into former godkids before. Did his parents know what Timmy was up to, even a little bit? He wondered if they’d even tell him if they did. He couldn’t really blame them if they kept it quiet- You’re not supposed to seek out old godkids out after all.
From out in the main area of the apartment, the sound of teleportation, the front door opening, and an exchange of voices. It seemed his parents had returned at last. They hadn’t come home last night- during the sleepover.
Peri had tried not to worry about that fact. Fairies didn’t generally stay with their godchildren at night, except for certain circumstances or unless requested by the godchild. He’d quelled his anxiety by deciding in his mind that they had stayed because they’d enjoyed watching the kids having lots of fun together so much that they didn’t want to leave. They definitely hadn’t stayed because something had gone wrong and they’d been too nervous to be away from Hazel. No sir, everything was fine.
Of course, now that they were here, he could be certain…
He waited impatiently until he heard the front door shut again. It had sounded like they’d been speaking to someone- very likely Hazel’s parents. While they knew of Peri, they definitely didn’t believe him to be staying with his parents currently. Best not for them to learn that by him just casually strolling out into the living room.
Peri exited his bedroom, cautiously hovering to the main area until he could peek his head out. Just in time to see his parents poof back out of their human disguises into their usual fairy forms. Hazel was with them again. The fairy smiled faintly. She really was a thoughtful child- It was obvious to him that she’d correctly assumed that Peri would want to hear about the sleepover sooner rather than later.
Before he could get closer, Hazel clocked him lurking by the wall and immediately grinned and waved. “Oh hey Peri!” The fairy smiled a bit wider and fluttered into the room. “Welcome back everyone. Um, so how was the sleepover? Have fun?”
Hazel bounced up onto the couch. “Yeah, lots of fun, it was good! I mean, some stuff happened, but it was good, like, overall! I think. Just some unexpected things but it was still okay, um…”
She trailed off, probably because Peri’s expression had gone from eager to concerned. “Okaaay,” the fairy said uncertainly. “Care to elaborate on that?”
Wanda zipped over, nudging Peri to actually sit down on the couch. She tapped Hazel’s arm and chimed, “Start at the beginning, squirt. I know, why don’t you show Peri that nice group photo you took when you first got to Dev’s house?”
Hazel’s eyes lit up like fireworks. “OH! Yeah, Peri, you gotta see this!” She hurriedly grabbed her phone, swiping through for a moment before holding it out. “Look!”
Peri looked. It was a cute photo, all four kids were grinning for the camera. Dev’s sunglasses were blessedly off, not even present on his person. Hazel had her arm firmly around the boy as if to keep him from ducking out of frame. Not that he could have easily. With Winn and Jasmine’s positions, they had caught Dev in the center of the group. Dev with his blue eyes and his purple hoodie-
WHAT!
The fairy may blacked out for a split second. Next thing he knew, he’d apparently snatched Hazel’s phone from her (thankfully she didn’t look bothered), bringing the screen close to his face. “What is- Is the lighting strange in this? D-Dev’s hoodie, it almost looks like it’s-”
“It is!” Hazel squealed. “He was wearing a purple hoodie! We couldn’t believe it- even Winn said they’ve never seen him in anything other than white and they’ve known Dev since first grade! Doesn’t it look nice on him-”
She was still talking but Peri couldn’t hear her anymore. His ears were ringing, it felt like his brain was being wrapped in cotton. Purple. Dev was wearing purple. Not just any shade either, it was so close to the young fairy’s hair colour, just a smidge paler.
He couldn’t believe it. He knew the kid was expanding his wardrobe but this?! It felt too specific, too good to be happenstance. Peri managed to drag his gaze away from the image for just a moment, making eye contact with his father, hoping he understood the question in his eyes.
Is it possible? Did I actually affect him? Did I manage to imprint on my kid even with such little time together?
Cosmo offered a hopeful smile. Maybe. A slim chance, but not impossible.
Peri snapped back to reality when Hazel’s hand landed on his. She smiled warmly at him, her voice suddenly much calmer. “It’s great, right?”
“It is.” Peri managed, not entirely surprised by the shake in his voice. He relinquished the phone back to her, taking a moment to wipe the thin stream of tears from his face and collecting himself. “S-sorry, I’m okay. I’m really glad… Tell me everything, please.”
Hazel willingly launched into her recap, occasionally flashing up additional photos that she’d taken throughout the night. As she indicated earlier, it all sounded pretty good, but there had been bits and pieces that felt off to her. The suspicious newness of all the games, the sheer amount of stuff, Dev seeming just a bit too jumpy, the way she swore he was trying to avoid talking to her for too long.
She hadn’t understood why until it was too late. Peri gripped the pen uncomfortably tight as the girl described how Dev suddenly fled the room without a word while they were choosing their next sleepover game. Nervously he ventured, “So what happened when you spoke to him after?”
Hazel fidgeted. “I tried to chase him right away but Jas stopped me and Winn pointed out that confronting Dev immediately if he was upset might not be the best idea. Especially since, well, you know, I wasn’t exactly calm, so I probably wouldn’t have been much help to him.”
“So you took a minute to calm down first before going to him. That makes sense.” Peri was confused as Hazel feebly shook her head. He glanced at his parents questioningly but they gestured back to their godchild, indicating he should let her explain it.
“I didn’t go to him,” Hazel murmured. “I wanted to, I was really worried and I tried to after he’d been gone a couple minutes already but… I still wasn’t very calm. And they must’ve recognized that since, well, you see- Winn went to check on Dev instead.”
Peri blinked a few times. Winn? He supposed it made some sense, they were shockingly level-headed for their age. Next to Hazel, they probably had the best chance at calming Dev down just on vibes alone. “And… that went well?”
Hazel looked up, smiling nervously. “Seemed to. They got him to come back. I don’t know what exactly they talked about but Dev explained some stuff. He, um- Did you know that he’s never participated in a sleepover before?”
The fairy blanched. “No.”
“Yeah, so this was his first one. Which explained a lot of why he was so anxious since we arrived. He ran out of the room because we were sort of arguing about the next activity and that freaked him out so he got overwhelmed and bolted. Ah, and he was crying after he ran off, unfortunately. He probably needed that catharsis though.”
Peri swiped at his eyes again, furiously scribbling in the notebook. “You might be right about that. The only time I’ve seen him cry before was during the Fairy World battle.”
Hazel’s eyes widened slightly. “When was that, I don’t remember him crying.”
Wanda cleared her throat, shooting a look at Peri. “Right before he gave up, dropped the cage key to us, and told us where he stashed the chip.”
“Oh… Um, anyway, basically Dev was anxious because he wasn’t sure what to do at a sleepover and felt too embarrassed to ask. But he also said he’s going to try harder from now on to tell us when his emotions are affecting him negatively instead of hiding.”
Peri took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. “That… Hazel, that’s fantastic.” The girl looked relieved that he thought so. The fairy would’ve liked to know exactly what happened during Winn’s conversation with Dev but the information that the boy had shared was still good stuff. “I presume things went better after that?”
Hazel nodded, her excitement returning. “Uh-huh! We wound up doing an icebreaker-type game so we could all get to know each other better, especially for Dev’s sake. I realized he was really concerned about that, which explained why he tried to get me to tell him stuff about Winn and Jas before.”
She rattled off a few things from Dev’s answering round for him. Peri hadn’t known for certain that the boy played guitar, but he had seen the instrument’s case once. He did know about the expensive vehicles, the opulent food, and the other languages though. It was interesting that Dev’s answer about liking purple was just that he inexplicably did. He did appreciate that Hazel had tried to learn more by asking about it.
Peri barely choked back a sob when Hazel explained the circumstances of Dev’s first word. Another painful blow of irony from the universe. How could it be that the kid’s first word was damn-near the fairy’s own name? It might’ve been odd, being a literal magical creature, but Peri tried to not place too much faith in things like fate or destiny. But that was too far. He had to get his kid back, surely he was meant to be Dev’s godparent.
Hazel looked particularly uncomfortable talking about it. “Peri, how much do you know about his Au-Pair drones? I mean, it seems like they’ve been with Dev since he was a baby, right?”
Peri chewed his lip. The Au-Pairs. Their presence in Dev’s life was unavoidable and when Peri had first arrived, he’d been quite concerned about how to do his job around them. After all, they essentially never left Dev’s side, how was he meant to do anything without being seen? When he’d asked Dev about it, the boy had boredly stated that, no, he could not make the Au-Pairs leave and besides, if the big rule was that he couldn’t reveal Peri to other people- Well, the drones aren’t people, are they?
He hadn’t been entirely comfortable with it, but Peri risked agreeing with that assessment. Of course the fairy cast some magic to interfere with surveillance in the tower anyway, just to be safe. He wasn’t sure if it was his own spells or Dev being correct about the parameters of Da Rulez but since Jorgen never appeared to tell him he’d messed up, clearly something was working in his favour.
The Au-Pairs had never spoken to Peri, making it feel like he was invisible to them. Yet they seemed to fly around him, suggesting they were aware of him in physical space, but the fairy had never risked getting into their paths either, so perhaps he was misinterpreting things. More confusingly, despite their constant observation, they also didn’t acknowledge whenever Dev and Peri were speaking together. If the fairy didn’t exist to them, wouldn’t their coding question why the boy was talking to himself?
He knew their programming was incredibly complex. Peri didn’t understand any of it, technology was never his thing. He just knew that the drones’ tasks were to monitor Dev’s health, keep him fed, keep him safe, and obey his commands to the best of their admittedly impressive abilities.
“That’s right, Hazel,” Peri finally responded. “I’m afraid I don’t know many specifics about the Au-Pairs, but it’s true that Dev’s had them since he was an infant. If I recall correctly, he once said to me, and I quote: The Au-Pairs have always taken care of me, it’s their job, so you’ll have to deal with them being here.”
The girl winced, fussing with the hem of her sweater. “So they really did take care of Dev as a baby? No nanny or, just, any person at all? Did Dale do anything with him?”
A bitter laugh forced its way out of Peri. “Dale Dimmadome doesn’t strike me as someone with the patience for raising an infant. So I highly doubt it.” He stopped himself from saying worse, catching the warning look on his parents’ faces. “Ahem… I never asked Dev outright but that was my assumption too. I snooped around for photo albums once- No pictures of any other people. Just Dev, Dale, and the Au-Pairs.”
Hazel looked horrified. Of course she was, the total lack of parental affection for her friend was devastating. Peri hated it too but it couldn’t be changed. Dev had been raised by the Au-Pair drones, that was the reality and whatever emotional and mental impacts it’d had on him were already done.
He would’ve liked to be angry about the physical danger to his kid too- except he couldn’t be. Peri didn’t like the Au-Pairs but one fact he couldn’t argue was that the drones would never allow Dev to be hurt. Dev had literally shown Peri the primary rules of their code when he’d fussed over him flying around the machines to prove it to him. That didn’t mean he liked the Au-Pairs but he could at least… appreciate that aspect.
Cosmo suddenly steered the conversation in another direction. “Heeey Peri, did you see that Hazel has her nails painted?” The purple fairy blinked, glancing at the godkid’s hands. “Um, yes? And your presumably very deliberate colour choices.”
Hazel giggled happily as Wanda swooped in closer. “All of the kids painted their nails, didn’t they, kiddo? You have photos of that too, right?”
Peri tilted his head, a curious smile creeping onto his face. “Wait, including Dev? I remember you guys were planning to do that, I wasn’t sure he’d go for it.”
The girl nodded, locating the correct photo. She hesitated before turning the screen over to Peri. “He was pretty willing- even convinced Dale to let him leave the polish on for school. But just so you know, Dev didn’t actually pick the colour. He let Jas pick for him and she’s the one who did his nails.”
Peri wasn’t sure why she clarified that until he saw the image. The kid’s nails were painted purple. In the exact tint as Peri’s hair. His heart skipped a beat at the sight. It was smart of Hazel to mention that Dev hadn’t selected the shade himself, otherwise he might’ve just had a heart attack from the shock right then.
He sniffled a few times but held it together this time. “I suppose I’ll have to thank Jasmine when I see her next. He was happy with the colour?”
Hazel nodded, also looking a touch watery-eyed. “He was. I didn’t ask but I’m like 99% sure she picked that on purpose. Um, that’s everything major, right?”
Wanda patted her godchild’s head. “Yes, I think so. Well, Dale did show up during their breakfast and Dev left to talk to him- but that seemed to go well considering that conversation included getting permission to keep his nail polish, so I don’t think you need to be worried about that.”
Peri jotted a few final notes. Thank god that horrible man hadn’t screwed up Dev’s sleepover. Perhaps not entirely surprising though. If the kids were quiet and out of the way, Dale had no reason to be near them. “Okay, that’s good. Thank you Hazel, I appreciate you keeping close to Dev like this.”
The girl chuckled, giving Peri a tight hug. “You don’t have to thank me, you know that I wanted to keep being friends with Dev.” The fairy meekly patted her back. “Right, I know. But you’re keeping me updated on how he’s doing. It’s not something I can do for myself at this stage, so I really do appreciate it.”
“No problem!” Hazel sat back and beamed at him. He felt a bit guilty about it, even though he hadn’t technically asked Hazel to relay information to him. She began doing it of her own volition right from the first day that Dev returned to school, eager to keep Peri posted on whatever the boy was up to. It was a relief to have support on this, from her and from his parents. Things would be far more difficult without them.
With the ‘mission report,’ as Hazel sometimes called these infodump sessions, concluded, the girl headed out to her family’s apartment. Cosmo and Wanda both accompanied her, though they did check to see if Peri wanted one of them to hang back and talk for a while. He assured them that he was alright and to go with Hazel for now.
And he was. He really did feel okay. Yes, it had been a little scary, hearing about how Dev had run out in an anxious fit. In their time together, Peri had never witnessed him behave like that before. Maybe a few small moments of shaky nerves but nothing severe. The Au-Pairs had always stepped in and distracted Dev when he got a bit jittery, settling him before Peri even got a chance to try anything. But apparently Winn had managed to help him this time around.
It was odd: stuff like that was supposed to be covered in the godchild’s assignment folder. The only medical note in Dev’s file had been for his dairy allergy, no mention of an anxiety issue or history of panic attacks. Which meant one of two things: A) This was the first time Dev’s anxiety had hit this level, possibly experiencing a panic attack for the first time too. Or more disturbingly, B) This was not the first time Dev experienced bad anxiety but he kept it so hidden that Jorgen was unaware of the issue, thus its absence from the folder.
Peri sighed out loud, fluttering lazily back toward his room. Regardless of the reason, anxiety hadn’t been in Dev’s file, otherwise Peri would have studied up on the subject beforehand. “Better late than never,” he mumbled to himself. He’d start reading about it right away- once he was reunited with Dev, being prepared to help him during anxious moments would be an important part of the work. Dev would need that.
If it was true Dev had been dealing with this for a while, Peri desperately hoped that the boy had figured out some coping mechanisms for himself. It was painful to think of him not having any way to handle his anxiety, surely he had some strategies, right? He must have, otherwise people would know about it.
Organizing his latest notes, the fairy chewed on a thought of bitter comfort. The Au-Pairs… are they managing Dev’s anxiety? Is their programming advanced enough to correlate mental health and physical well-being?
Peri didn’t like the Au-Pairs much but they were dedicated to taking care of Dev. Which was only a result of programming, of course. Even so, it meant every ounce of their artificial intelligence was trained on the data set of Dev’s entire life. Perfect memories and strategies formulated specifically for Dev based on years of history.
He shouldn’t compare himself to them. Maybe the Au-Pairs did have more practical knowledge on the kid, they did have the unfair advantage of being with him from day one. But ultimately they were still machines. They were not better than Peri.
The fairy was begrudgingly grateful for the things they could do, especially since he couldn’t be at Dev’s side himself. Even more so if the Au-Pairs were doing something about his anxiety. But real emotional support was not something they could provide. Love was not within their capabilities. Dev needed people for that. Friends, family.
Luckily, Dev seemed to have the ‘friends’ side of the equation handled. Not just in Hazel anymore either. Winn and Jasmine had grown rapidly fond of the former bully too. Peri had no delusions about Dale changing his ways, he would never be the familial support that Dev needed. No, that role fell upon his fairy godparent. And Dev would get that, because Peri was going to fight for him. He wasn’t going to back down on this.
I refuse to leave my kid behind. I promise you, Dev. I will get back to you.