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Jason slid into the living room on his knees, guitar in his hands as Ruby sat on the back of the sofa, clapping happily. The guitar was plugged in, primed and ready to go and he let his hand glide over the strings, playing the opening notes to the song his daughter was named after. Ruby naturally started to sing with him; being, essentially her soul influence in the beginning of her life mean ruby really had attached herself to much of Jason’s hobbies and interests and that included his God-awful taste in music. He stood himself up as he played and Ruby hopped down, landing sloppily on all fours before jumping up and down and continuing to sing. Jason smiled at her, and jumped alongside his daughter. Whenever her name was said in the song, she refrained from speaking; opting to do the line after instead, alternating with her dad. Truly, his neighbours must hate him. Once the song drew to a close, he opened his arms, letting he guitar slide to his side hanging on its strap, and ruby fell into his arms, giving him a tight hug. He had taken fondly to fatherhood, in his own way. Sure, he wasn’t the most responsible guy in the world, and he didn’t keep fruit in the house or really vet what she watched, and he didn’t have the money to buy new clothes every time the school complained that ripped tights and pink shoes weren’t uniform, and he may partake in a little pot smoking every so often…But Ruby was the happiest kid he’d ever seen, and that was all that mattered to him.
Jason was sat on the sofa, with ruby sat on the floor in front of him with a furrowed brow, locked in concentration as she navigated her way around the totally-appropriate-for-a-child video game flashing on the tv. Jason used to game as a distraction, and was running a brush through her wild hair. It came as a surprise to many that Jason in fact knew how to look after hair, since he gave off a vaguely homeless vibe. However, his daughter liked the punk aesthetic, and messy unkept hair was his specialty. He tied it up into pigtails, backcombing them to puff them up; Ruby was oblivious to what was happening, she just let her head move around freely, tongue sticking out in concentration. Jason gave his daughter a nudge with his foot, and she paused the game, tilting her head all the way back “Yeah?” she asked, slightly lopsided teeth showing as she grinned happily at her protector “Do you wanna see uncle Frank?” Ruby nodded, although it looked rather odd from her position. “Yeah! I like uncle Frank, he buys me chocolate.” Jason looked down at his daughter, letting out a bark of a laugh and nodding “You are hauntingly like me. Go get dressed and we’ll go meet him.”
“UNCLE FRANK!” Ruby ran off to her second favourite adult, and Jason laughed as Frank was promptly assaulted by the overly excited ball of pink. Jason walked up to Frank, folding his arms “You stole my daughter.” Frank looked at Jason “Don’t be offended, it’s because I buy her things. I'm her sugar uncle.” Franks voice held a strong Irish accent, and it amused Jason to no end- to him he sounded like an aggressive leprechaun. “Don’t worry dad I still like you the best.” Ruby provided. Jason nodded firmly “You better, cuz I don’t think Frank is ready to look after a kid.” Frank shook his head in confirmation of the statement. “That’s okay, uncle Frank can look after you, and you can look after me.” Ruby provided; solid logic in her opinion. Frank laughed at the slightly offended look on Jason’s face. “Even the kid knows you need looking after.” Ruby nodded, now separated from Frank “Yeah. My teacher said pop tarts and pizza aren’t good for you and that’s all dad eats.” Frank looked at Jason, smug grin on his face. “I can’t help but feel like I'm being attacked.” Frank shrugged, dragging his finger down his own face in a mock tear, resulting in a hard shove from Jason. “Jack ass.”
“so, how’s Tara?” Frank asked, walking in tandem with Jason as Ruby ran ahead of them; frank had suggested going to one of those adventure park things, with the tire swings and zip lines to try and burn off some of Ruby’s energy, and Jason had considered this an excellent idea (mostly because Frank was paying, and he really wanted to use a zipline) “She’s still a bitch but thanks to you she can’t touch me.” Frank nodded “and yet you still haven’t paid me.” Jason laughed at him, putting an arm around his shoulder as they walked “Look, I told you. I paid you back with my glorious body, no backsies.” Frank snorted, and looked at his partner “Backsies? You’ve been around Ruby too long.” Jason raised a brow, feigning confusion “Who do you think taught her to talk?” Frank sighed deeply, and dramatically as they slowed in front of the zipline, which Ruby had taken great interest in. Jason pretended all of his being didn’t want to go on too. Frank looked at him, brow raised “Just go, you gigantic man child.” Jason looked back at him, and gave him a quick kiss. “You get me.” He said, taking a moment before catching up with his daughter in the always growing queue. Frank sighed and leant against the log fence marking the area off, watching Jason lift his daughter up. “I can’t believe I picked that over a judge.” He muttered to himself, easy smile resting on his face as he watched the world’s worst dad look after what was honestly the happiest kid he’d ever seen.