Chapter Text
Anna glanced again at the court order clutched in her hands, to make sure she hadn’t been hallucinating for the past few hours. No, it was still there, and it still told her that she needed to come to this government building and meet someone. How was it that the humans had millions of abandoned buildings just lying around and yet the city council still ended up having them meet in the worst one?
The hallway reminded her of the one outside her old lab only in that it was lined with doors on one side and windows on the other and was, for tax purposes, an enclosed space. The carpet underfoot was a hideous shade of brown and her claws kept getting stuck in it, while the slightly-yellowed stuccoed ceiling actually managed to turn her stomach a bit. Looking for the right room number was actually something of a relief, because at least the walls were safe to look at.
There it was, Meeting Room 34B. The door was locked, of course. She checked the order again--it never hurt to be sure, so as to not give the pigs another chance to put her away--and rapped on the door with the tops of her claws. Thumping footsteps came from inside, in the rapid cadence of a ground-dwelling dragon. A pretty heavy one, judging by the volume. There was a clattering from inside the door as the occupant struggled with the knob, then a pause. After standing there for a good fifteen seconds, the door slowly swung open, revealing a white dragon beyond. He had left behind the traditional tie and was now wearing what appeared to be the detached collar of a “polo shirt”.
“Remy!” she exclaimed, taking a step back. To her chagrin, her toe-claws lifted up off the ground in an unintended display of aggression.
“Anna…” Remy’s reaction, by contrast, was most comparable to just being reminded of a chore you had forgotten to take care of. “I should have known it would be you.”
She held up the paper in her hand, annoyed. “This isn’t some plot, I was told to come here."
He blushed, and held up his own order. It was printed with noticeably fewer bolded sections about ‘FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW’ and ‘PUNITIVE ACTION’, but the gist was the same. “I was too.”
Anna glanced past him-no easy feat considering his bulk-- and looked into the meeting room. The place was much cleaner and tolerable for the eyes than the hallway. There was very little furniture, though, just a few plastic chairs and a folding table between them. Incongruously, a brand-new coffeemaker sat on the counter to one side of the room, and appeared to be in the middle of filling up another mug.
She smirked for a moment. “I see you made yourself at home. Do you want me to stand out here, or is it okay if I actually use one of those chairs?”
Remy sighed, and stepped aside. After she had come in and closed the door behind her, he moved back over to the coffeemaker and kept watching it impatiently. His tail was twitching like hers did after a night of caffeine-fueled experimentation. Either he had been here all night and the coffee was the only thing holding him up, or he was just as nervous about this as her.
“What are you afraid of? Government buildings are your natural habitat.” Anna asked, and he glared at her with bloodshot eyes. “I’m just saying, you should be comfortable in a room like this, it’s where you work.”
“I was horrible at my old job and everyone was happy when I quit.”
Anna resisted the urge to tell Remy exactly what she thought about that, and decided to make an attempt at defusing the situation instead. It wouldn’t look good if they ended up at each other’s throats before the council stooge had even gotten here. “You quit? What do you do for work now?”
“I’ve been taking lessons from some of the traders in town. Cutting a deal with the barbarians requires a lot of brains and very little manual dexterity, as it turns out.” To Anna’s surprise, he actually appeared quite happy about having zero functional hands. “I assume you’re still doing unethical biological experiments.”
Her claws were twitching again. “I don’t need criticism from you, I’ve gotten quite enough already.” She thudded down in one of the chairs, leaning forward so her tail could stick through between the backrest and seat. Remy mumbled something inaudibly and went back to watching the coffee drip. The door swung open suddenly, and they both glanced towards it at the same time to see who was there.
“Oh, hi Adine!” said Remy.
“Oh lord, Adine.” moaned Anna.
The wyvern looked up from her clipboard and her expression changed from “peppy and ready to aid negotiations” to “should have stayed home this morning”. She checked the clipboard in her hand again, incredulous, then made a beeline for the chair opposite Anna, still silent. When she sat down, Adine took a deep breath and set the clipboard down on the table with enough force to make Remy jump.
“Hey Remy… Anna. I assume you both know why you’re here.”
Anna had never heard someone trying so hard to keep their voice neutral. “Actually, I have no clue why I’m here. This form letter says ‘find details on back’ but there’s nothing printed on the back.” Anna flipped the paper back and forth in front of Adine’s face, and her eyes moved to track it involuntarily. Her face was getting redder by the second, and Anna smirked.
Remy glared at her, moving over to the table and pushing a chair aside to stand next to it. “I didn’t have a back on my letter either, actually.”
Adine snatched the paper out of Anna’s hand and looked at it, her blush gradually draining away and leaving her pale in the face. “Did I really forget to… oh no .” She began looking through the half-inch of documents in her clipboard frantically, ignoring the actual contents in order to find the right forms. Right on the bottom of the stack, there were two extra copies, descriptions of the reason for the summons and a form-fillable section for excusing one’s absence. “Augh, Janice is gonna kill me... “ She grabbed the two extra forms from the stack and handed one to each of them. “These were supposed to print… double sided.”
Anna accepted hers with a smirk that immediately vanished when she saw the actual seal on the document. “Department of Child Services?” She gestured at the paper, annoyed. “Last time I checked, I don’t have any kids.”
There was a long pause, during which Adine made a low noise in her throat, approaching a growl.
Before the situation escalated into an all-out brawl, Remy cleared his throat. “It might be a good idea to, er, read the whole thing before making any judgements.” he stammered.
Anna frowned slightly more as she read further down on the paper, which ended up in an open-mouth snarl. “No way! I’m not taking care of some damn ward of the state. I can barely pay rent!” She shut her mouth suddenly, shrinking back into her chair in embarrassment.
Remy raised an eye-ridge. “Well, I have no troubles with money, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason for her to be involved, in any case.”
Anna rolled her eyes but still nodded in agreement.
“Whether or not you two are… qualified,” Adine was definitely working from a rehearsal, because she looked pretty disgusted at what she was saying despite her neutral tone, “is of no consequence. There are apparently some ‘special circumstances’ in this case.” The two parents frowned as she began to leaf through her ream again. “ I can’t believe they want us to memorize all of this. ” she murmured, finally getting to the List of Special Considerations form. “It says here… nope, no way!” Adine stood up very suddenly, rustling the papers and sending a few pens off the table as her wings unfurled a bit.
Remy cocked his head. “What’s the matter?”
The wyvern took her head in her hands for a moment before looking back to the list. “Urghh, I’ll just read it to you: ‘The council finds that in this extraordinary circumstance, both Remy yn Rhyfedd and Anna Forásach are to be considered the biological parents of Amely no-last-name, on the basis of the genetic test and witness testimony. As such, there is no legal option other than returning the child to their custody, unless one or the other demonstrates unfitness of the task.’.” Adine said, looking nauseated.
It took the two of them a moment to process this information, and then they both began shouting at her.
“I was pardoned!”
“What!? You’re letting her take custody--”
“I never even met--”
‘--after what she did to--”
“--his daughter!”
“--my wife!”
Adine wiped a few flecks of spittle off of her face, looking very much like she wished she had stayed home not just this morning but for the past few months. “That’s the rule, unfortunately. Unless one of you was already proven to be negligent and,” she cleared her throat, “not pardoned, you are apparently considered Amely’s parents, with all the responsibilities that implies.”
Anna gritted her teeth for a moment, then let out a low sigh. Wasn’t it enough for that mistake to ruin her life on one world? “Can I renounce my claim, or however it’s said?”
Adine looked relieved, and found the needed form a lot quicker in her stack than the others. “I printed this out especially for you, would you believe it?” She smirked as she handed Anna the clipboard with the paper on top. The runner quickly set to work filling in her information, but Remy looked concerned.
“And if she fills that out, I get full custody, right?”
Adine wrinkled her mouth, thinking. “As long as you can demonstrate ability to take care of Amely alone, sure. You said you don’t have money troubles, so that’s good…” She jotted down a few notes on the margin of one of the innumerable documents. “What’s your home life like? Do you have the time to take care of a child alone?”
Remy lost a little of the remaining color in his face. “I… do have to go on trips for work sometimes. A few days usually.” His voice became a little softer. “Or weeks.”
Adine grimaced, sucking in a breath. “That might be a problem. I know it’s a raw deal, but I can’t in good conscience let you take her if someone can’t at very least be there when she’s home from school.”
Confused, Anna looked up. “She’s in school now? Last time I saw her she knew at most three words.”
“Preschool, sure. She started last week.” Adine looked honestly happy for the first time since she’d walked in, and Anna rolled her eyes.
Remy scratched his chin with a foreclaw, making a staccato series of clicks against his scales. “I’ll have to find a different job, I guess. This one was working out pretty well but…” he shrugged.
Adine nodded in commiseration, but then a sly smile began to spread across her face. “Well, if you don’t have a steady income, the other parent would be partially responsible for the well being of the child.”
Anna looked up very suddenly from the nearly completed release form. “What kind of responsibility?”
“Well, that’s up to the council in the end. It’s pretty much always a child support payment, though, but that won’t be any trouble for you, I’m sure.” Adine was grinning like a fox, and Anna felt a flash of deja vu. Did she really look like that when she was scheming? “There’s absolutely no chance of you ending up in a courtroom again with your record re-opened, yep.”
Her claws suddenly a bit shaky, Anna very carefully set the pen down before signing the final line. “I get the point, alright. What do you want me to do?”
Adine nodded to Remy, and he hummed contemplatively for a moment. “Well, I don’t really need the money, it’s more that I need someone…” he gestured broadly with a forelimb, “... around to make sure Amely is taken care of.”
The others gaped at him, though Anna at least had the presence of mind to keep schtum for now.
“You’re not suggesting that Anna move into your house and help you take care of the child which, may I remind you , she made out of your dead wife!” Adine had her wings on the table, leaning forward towards Remy.
He grimaced at the mention of Amelia but none of that anger crept into his voice. “I don’t suppose you’d be able to do it, then.”
Adine started. “I guess not, no.”
“And hiring a nanny for a long term--especially in the outer city--would put me in the poorhouse just as much as getting a new job,” Remy said, with a hint of frustration. “If I want to see my child more than a few times a month there’s really no other choice.”
Adine threw up her wings in frustration, sending the loose debris in the room flying about. “But she’s a--a monster, a criminal, a heretic!”
“She also helped us save all dragonkind, if you recall!” Remy was actually getting a bit heated, at last. “We’ve both changed since Amelia died, Adine! What makes her any different?”
“You really want to play that card? All you wanted to do after that was--”
Anna cut them both off with a shout. “For fuck’s sake, I’ll do it if it makes you both shut up!”
A beat passed. Adine blinked at her. “Really?”
“Beats being thrown in prison,” Anna replied. “And I’m not going to turn down a chance to get out of my current ‘accommodations’, even if it means living in Remy’s house.”
“Well, live in my house and take care of Amely when I’m gone, yeah.” He cast his eyes to the ceiling, trying to recall. “I think there’s a spare room you can have.”
“To be clear, I still hate this idea, but I’ll--”
Adine cut her off.“You’d better not hate it. My ,er, colleagues and I will be checking in to make sure that Amely is well taken care of.”
Anna held up her hands in a warding gesture and leaned away from Adine. “I’ll do my best, then. At least until Remy can get a better job.”
“That’s all I can legally ask for.” Adine flipped through the papers one more time and took out a schedule. “Amely will be leaving state custody in one week. If Anna isn’t moved in by then there’s a real chance that it stands to become a criminal matter, and Amely will stay with us for the foreseeable future.”
Remy's expression changed slightly, from righteous fury to anxiety.
“We’ll be dropping her off at your home of record, where the summons were delivered.”
“That’s fine, yes.” he replied carefully.
“Alright. Officially, you should already have presented proof of financial responsibility, but since you didn’t know you needed it I can pick it up next week. Just a pay stub or account statement should do fine.” Remy nodded, and Adine suddenly dropped her formal tone. “Well at least that’s... squared away. Alex wanted to know if we were still doing brunch on Sunday.” Anna tensed at the mention of the human, but Remy nodded happily, despite their argument.
“I wouldn’t dream of missing it.”
“Great, see you then.” She stood up, nodding to Anna. “And I’ll see you next week, hopefully.” Adine handed each of them a schedule and took her clipboard. As she walked out of the room, her nervous muttering about Janice’s swift punishment was barely audible. The door closed behind her and the room was suddenly very quiet. The drip of the coffee machine had stopped
Remy moved away from the table and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding at least twice as much creamer as Anna thought was necessary. He looked over his shoulder at Anna, who was still seated at the table, staring murderously at the schedule. “Want some?”
“I’ll get it myself, thanks.”
When she didn’t move, he tried to keep pushing the conversation forward. “So, should I help you move out? Big Mitch has a spare transport truck that I can probably get off him for a few favors.”
“A truck might be a bit excessive. There’s probably more floor space in it than my apartment,” Anna replied, with a sour laugh. “Just drive over in a car, I can fit my mattress in the trunk and carry everything else.”
Remy appeared conflicted, sucking in one corner of his mouth as he formed his reply. “Alright, I can do that.” he said, leaving an unasked question in the air.
Anna furrowed her brow. “What did you want to ask me?”
Remy blushed, though he sounded more evasive than embarrassed. “Nothing, nothing. Just… fell on hard times, huh?” He took another gulp of his coffee, trying to stay very intently focused on the ceiling.
“Hard times fell on me. As it turns out, there are very few jobs for traditional Doctors of Pharmacy in a world with medical nanorobotics.” Any sense of wonder at the humans advancements Anna might have felt had long ago been snuffed out, replaced with annoyance and a deep mistrust.
“Alex must have set you up with a stipend like everyone else, though.”
“Yes, which is the only reason I’m not saddled with three hundred thousand dollars of crippling medical debt,” Anna said, scratching at the patch of still-regrowing scales on her neck.
“Ouch.”
She stood up and walked past him to the coffee maker, pouring a cup for herself and gulping it down with no amendments.
Remy grimaced in sympathy for her taste buds. “I guess I’ll pay your half of the rent, then.” He grinned.
Shooting him a withering stare, Anna gulped down the rest of the coffee. “I’ll see you on Saturday.” Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed her schedule and walked out of the room.
The door closed firmly behind her, leaving Remy alone. “I’ll, uh, see you too.” He sighed, and looked back to the schedule, taking a nervous gulp of coffee. He couldn’t help but grin.