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Being Royal Advisor is a hard job, but being a parent of quadruplets – now that is a real challenge. Ever since the adoption, Ignis has been exhausted, something Noctis finds faintly amusing. Still, he’s lucky the boys are pretty well behaved, because four little gits would be even harder.
But he can always count of Vanitas (and sometimes Sora) to cause him endless problems.
One day, Ignis is busy at the Palace when his cell phone starts to vibrate. He holds it to his ear and says, “Hello. Ignis Scientia speaking.”
“Oh, hey Iggy,” Prompto says.
“Hello, Prompto. Why are you calling me?”
Prompto, who has been a stay-at-home dad since the adoption, usually spends his day doing chores. So he should be too busy for just an idle chat.
“Oh, I just got a call from the kindergarten.”
“What? Has something happened?”
“Yeah, kinda…” Prompto says, trailing off.
“Prompto! Are the children injured?”
“No… Thing is… Vani and Sora got into a fight.”
“A fight?” Ignis says. “Bloody hell. So, have you been called to see the staff?”
“Yeah. are you able to come too?”
“I’m sure Noct will give me some time off,” he says. It’s not like there were any important meetings today, so the Palace should run fine without him for a few hours. “But a fight? What did they do?”
“I dunno. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
Ignis sighs. These children will be the death of him.
---
Vanitas scowls, legs dangling as he sits on a chair in the Head Teacher’s office. Sora sits beside him, swinging his legs and humming quietly. It’s annoying, but Vanitas says nothing.
He knows he did something bad, but he doesn’t care. And he’s sure that, when they know what happened, Dad and Papa will agree. Still, he hates being in this office – and he hates that Ven and Roxas aren’t allowed in to sit with them.
“Vani, are they gonna be mad at us?” Sora whispers.
“I dunno. And I don’t care,” Vanitas says, before the pair get told to shut up.
Eventually, they hear footsteps outside and the Head Teacher gets up to open the door. It swings open and Dad and Papa stand in the doorway, Dad looking unimpressed and Papa looking confused.
“Ah, thank you for joining us, gentlemen,” she says, shaking their hands (and giving Dad a pitying look when she sees his white stick and Vanitas wants to punch her just like he punched that jerk). “Take a seat.”
Papa and Dad sit in the remaining seats, glancing at him and Sora.
“So, I told you that these two had been in a fight, didn’t I?” the Head Teacher says.
“Yes, you did,” Dad says. “Would you mind elaborating on what caused my sons to get into a fight?”
“Of course. You see—”
“I was just—” Vanitas starts, but she cuts him off.
“Enough, Vanitas. I will explain. A boy was antagonising Ventus, so these two stormed over and started arguing with him. The argument became heated, and Sora punched the boy and Vanitas kicked him in the ribs when he fell. They’ve been in my office since then.”
“Boys, did you really do that?” Papa asks.
Sora nods. “Yeah.”
Vanitas says nothing.
“May I ask what ‘antagonising’ was happening?” Dad asks.
“Oh…” the Head Teacher says, trailing off. The awkwardness on her face makes Vanitas smirk. “Well, the boy was making comments about you, Mr Scientia.”
“About me?”
“Yes, about your… uh…”
“He’s blind!” Vaintas yells, climbing onto his chair. “You can say it. Blind blind blind! It’s not a bad word!”
“Be quiet, Vanitas!” she hisses, going red.
Papa glances at the boys, and sighs. “Oh. I get it. Was he saying bad things about Dad, guys?”
Sora nods. “He said Dad’s a cripple and useless and King Noctis could have a better advisor, and it’s not true so I punched him,” he babbles, fingers playing with his hair as his legs swing faster.
“Well, that explains why they reacted so… rashly,” Dad says. “Our sons are very… protective of me, and take any ableism directed at me personally. And that includes the inability to say the names of disabilities. I am blind, madam. You are allowed to say that. I’m sure everyone in Lucis knows I’m blind.”
Vaintas smirks and nudges Sora, who grins back. He knew Dad and Papa would be on their side. He knew it.
Papa suppresses a giggle, turning his head to the boys and putting his finger on his lips. They nod, trying to be quiet.
“I… see,” the Head Teacher says, face burning with embarrassment. “Uh… Your sons are too young to be put in detention, so there is little I can do to punish them. I trust that you will ensure this never happens again. And if it does, I will have to expel them.”
“I understand,” Dad says, his diplomatic voice on (beside him, Papa bounces his legs up and down). “However, I ask one thing of you. Will you punish the boy who provoked them if this happens again. I know it’s wrong to resort to violence, but my sons were provoked. If you allow bigotry to foster here, I may have to have a talk with the King.”
The Head’s eyes widen, and Vanitas almost bursts out laughing. When Dad makes threats like this, he’s dead serious. “O-Of course, Mr Scientia. Right, so, Vanitas and Sora are suspended for a week, and I think you should take Ventus and Roxas home too.”
“Why? Are they okay?” Papa asks, leaning forwards.
“They’re sad ‘cause they can’t come in,” Sora mumbles.
Dad and Papa nod; they know how close the four quads are.
“We understand.” Dad gets to his feet, nodding his head. “Well, we’ll take our leave now. Come on, boys.”
And Vanitas and Sora scrabble to the floor and follow after their parents, leaving the embarrassed Head Teacher alone in her office.
---
In the car, Ven sniffles, wiping his face on the back of his hand. He’s been crying ever since the fight, and nobody can console him.
“It’s okay now, buddy,” Papa says, glancing at Ven in the rear view mirror.
In the passenger seat, Dad turns around and passes Roxas a box of tissues. He takes one out and hands it to his sobbing brother.
“Boys, just so you know, we don’t support what you did,” Dad says. “But we understand why.”
“Yeah, it’s okay to get angry. But fighting isn’t the answer – but it can be fun,” Papa says, cutting himself off when Dad lets out a sharp sigh. “I mean, fighting isn’t the answer. But… we get it. You were mad. The boy was being a jerk. These things happen. Just try not to punch people again. Okay?”
Vanitas sighs, but nods and mumbles, “Okay,” along with his brothers.
Although he will totally fight someone again if they’re mean about his family. And Papa was right – fighting can be really fun.