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A soft rap at the door rouses Wrathion from a light doze. He’d been tending to the one whelp that had hatched on time and must have fallen asleep shortly after his son had. His son. He can feel the tears start to fall again as Anduin opens and closes the door quietly. The blond smiles at him and silently goes to the couch to sit next to him. Wrathion tucks himself up against Anduin’s side and hums softly when he wraps an arm around the dragon’s shoulders.
“Meri says the others are healthy, just taking their time. The cold snap last night might have something to do with it.” Anduin murmurs into his hair.
“She told me not to worry a few days ago. She didn’t have to…Stellagosa told me about her clutch taking eight days to hatch completely.” Wrathion shifts their son to rest between them, only getting a sleepy gurgle from the whelp. “I would have appreciated the warning about the claws, though.”
His husband has to turn his face to smother his laugh and not wake up their son. Wrathion pouts. It hadn’t been comfortable when his son had hatched and immediately launched himself at the older dragon, tearing at his shoulder in a mixture of fear and excitement. Food had definitely helped, and Wrathion couldn’t stay mad at the whelp. The little one had chirped at him and settled in his lap as soon as his belly was bulging with food. Anduin’s healing helped, too, he supposes.
“We still have to name him…” The human says, gently petting their son’s soft head scales. “I know there are naming conventions to be upheld, and I had several ideas, but--”
“Varian.”
Anduin goes still as death next to him. “W-what?”
“His name is Varian, of course. As if I could name your firstborn anything else.” Wrathion had thought about it over the three weeks it had taken for the eggs to fully harden. The benefit to naming their child after Anduin’s late father was two-fold: first, he thought Anduin would appreciate it, second, Wrathion would like to think the old king would be rolling in his grave if he knew a black dragon shared his name.
“You’re certain? We don’t have to--” Anduin’s voice is strained against the emotion.
“Anduin, it’s decided. It’s appropriate and I appreciate the irony that your father’s name works with black dragon naming protocols.” The whelp between them stirs, red eyes blinking open slowly. Wrathion smiles at their son. “Hello Varian, my darling.”
The whelp yawns, showing his already-sharp fangs, then rolls onto his stomach and curls back up. The older dragon feels Anduin jerk next to him when Varian scrunches his paws, inadvertently digging claws into his thigh. He reaches down and carefully extricates them from his husband’s skin.
“Thank you.” The blond states, wiping his eyes. He kisses Wrathion’s cheek. “For that, and for…for naming him after Father. He’d be--actually, I don’t think he’d be thrilled, but he might stop complaining about you for a day or two.”
Wrathion smirks, knowing how right Anduin is. He tucks his legs up onto the couch, using Anduin as a pillow and jostling their son awake again. “Sorry, my love, go back to sleep.”
Varian blinks at him, swings his head between his two parents, and gives a chirp of recognition before sneezing abruptly. He looks startled and shakes his head, standing and walking until he’s tucked between Wrathion’s arm and his ribcage. It’s a simple matter for Wrathion to lean down to touch his forehead to the whelp’s.
“I love you, my darling little one. Don’t you ever forget that.” His son puts a bit of pressure against Wrathion’s forehead in return, as if acknowledging the statement. The whelp then pulls away to yawn in Wrathion’s face, then puts his head down and falls asleep in seconds.
“I didn’t think I could love someone so quickly, did you?” Anduin says, hand stroking along Wrathion’s arm.
“I’ve loved him since I first held his egg. I don’t think I had a choice…or that I’d have it any other way.”
“Mm, me neither.” Anduin sighs, then groans. “I just realized the racket Varian created is going to be downright quiet once the others hatch.”
Wrathion echoes the groan. “Titans help us.”