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The castle parlour was a mess. It was far from the worst mess Sol had ever seen in his life (it wasn’t even remotely close), but the empty snack wrappers, strewn blankets, borrowed furniture, and bodies lying on the floor all mixed together made the room far from presentable. Oh well. Not like Ky used it much anyway. He doubted that the man would have allowed for this in the first place if it needed to be spotless all the time. Besides, at least in the case of the latter, everything was almost neat and orderly, all in one place.
That was to say, he currently had six children completely asleep and stacked on top of him.
He was more than a little glad that Ky had long gone to bed. It was past midnight, after all, and even workaholic kings needed some sleep. It didn’t help that trying to explain the circumstances leading to him acting as a communal heating pad would have been enough of a long-winded and stupid story that he really would have rather not bother.
With a bit of tugging, Sol managed to retrieve one arm from where it had been used as a pillow. He was used to shrugging off Sin when he got clingy in his sleep, but Bridget was a lot less durable, and he was pretty sure that nobody would be happy to wake up with a broken arm, so he was more careful. It seemed to have worked. The boy didn’t even stir as he settled back down.
The Gear gave a mildly amused smile as he flicked a bear’s ear, making the fabric flop over. He still wasn’t sure what the big deal was with these weird pajamas, but he ultimately assumed that weird fashion trends existed with every generation. Maybe Sin’s friends were just really, really weird. Either seemed plausible.
He had no idea where Sin had managed to get one based on that weird doll of his, though. The others made enough sense- sheep, bears, puppies, bunnies, even the otter wasn’t too far-fetched- but the Chimaki was odd. Dizzy had probably made it herself. Sol might have entertained the concept of asking for once too, but he knew he wasn’t talking to her as much as he should, and appearing randomly just to ask for things seemed a bit much, even for him.
The weird pajamas had been very important, for whatever reason. Everyone had already been wearing them, even before the sleepover started. He’d half-watched Sin running around in it for hours, stealing the blankets and pillows from guest bedrooms and stockpiling snacks. Sol had wondered if there was some sort of holiday or celebration being had, but as it seemed, this was just ‘for the fun of it.’
Sin seemed to like doing things ‘for the fun of it.’ He didn’t know where the kid got his energy. Well, the Gear cells, obviously, but that had nothing to do with the kid’s indomitable positivity. It seemed like that was Sin’s biggest asset. He was a good fighter, but he was even better at endearing people to him, even making close friends out of enemies. There wasn’t even a need for a fight half the time, unless he felt like blowing off some steam or having a friendly fight. There were times where fighting was just inevitable- Sin wasn’t a total bleeding heart, and of course some people wouldn’t have any interest in friendship, but considering the fact that he currently had two former genocidal villains in animal pajamas sleeping on top of him, Sin was apparently doing something right. Natural-born diplomat, that kid.
“Heh.” Sol mused to himself, ruffling his charge’s shaggy hair. “Guess he is like his dad after all.”
May made a little noise, moving slightly and settling back down on top of his chest. He had no idea when Sin had managed to make friends with Johnny’s kid. Probably during one of Testament’s visits. Same with Bridget, it seemed like the two hung out a lot together. At least the other ones were easy enough, El and Ram were family now, and Bedman practically lived there, aside from the few rare times when he’d been willing to bring all of them back to the loft above the bakery downtown.
That was good. It took a weight off his shoulders that he hadn’t really noticed was there. Didn’t do much for the weight everywhere else, but eh. Small victories.
If it really bothered him, he could have just gotten up and tossed them off. And usually, he would have done it without hesitation. Something in his thoughts seemed unwilling to go through with it, though. Maybe it was the warmth? He emitted plenty of heat himself- which was probably how everyone ended up napping on him in the first place- but other people’s warmth just felt different. Human contact was a rarity for him most of the time, and he was far too stubborn to ever dare ask for something like that. But if it was a bunch of children, he could pretend it was their idea, not his.
It was a pretty good deal, he wouldn’t lie. There were still a couple half-eaten bags of snacks within reach that he could help himself to, and a pile of pillows serving as a bed-nest. A guy could get used to something that nice.
Geez, sometimes he swore the damn brat king was trying to domesticate him or something.
Whatever. If he was gonna be stuck here for a while, he might as well enjoy himself. He settled down in the pile and slowly began nodding off between handfuls of chips.
++++++
“Mmmph...Sol?”
Ky made another effort to rub the sleep from his eyes, holding back a yawn. He usually felt a lot more rested and aware in the morning, but today he just felt sluggish. Trying to corral children in between rounds of paperwork was apparently too much for him to handle. At least Sol had been around, though, it had made things a good margin easier, if only for his ability to stand around and intimidate the children into behaving.
Oh, alright, maybe he shouldn’t be so mean. Sol had told him to go to bed at a reasonable hour and offered to look after everyone, that was a kind gesture. Though he could only imagine the state the place must have been in without him staying to pick up the messes.
As soon as he entered the parlour, an empty bag crunched underfoot. He groaned in dismay, bending over to pick up the garbage. In the process, he noticed that an absolutely massive pile of pillows and blankets had managed to accumulate on the floor. All of the children seemed to be piled onto it, still snoozing peacefully. Any concerns Ky had about the mess were negated by the sight in front of him.
That almost immediately took on a different meaning when he noticed something out of place in the blanket pile. Something dark red and scaly, with thick, beefy limbs wrapped around the children.
Without thinking, Ky felt for his side. But instead of closing around a nonexistent pommel, he crushed the bag further in his grip, with an even louder crunch.
A jagged red head jerked to attention, swiveling to scan the room. Ky felt his blood going cold. Just when he was afraid of what the strange creature was going to do if it saw him, his mind suddenly reminded him that he recognized the shape and color of it.
“Oh. It’s just you, Sol.” Ky gave a relieved sigh. He knew Sol didn’t like slipping out of his human form, but he’d never had much trouble with handling the creature before. Actually, maybe it had been intentional? The dragon did fit in rather well with all the other animals. Maybe he’d just been willing to entertain Sin for a little bit.
He smiled, approaching the group. “It looks like you must have had an exciting night. Would anybody like me to get them break- Woah- !“
Ky managed to duck underneath a sudden gout of flame, though he could definitely smell a bit of burning hair. “Sol, what’s gotten into you?!”
The man in question looked completely unconcerned with the idea that he’d nearly just seared his head off. If anything, Ky swore the look in his eye meant that he would do it again without much hesitation.
“Mine.” He growled, wrapping an arm around the pile of children on top of him.
“Sol?” Ky took a hesitant step forward, earning him a warning growl. “Sol, talk to me. Is someone hurt?”
His response came in the form of an even bigger fireball, forcing him to turn around and run for the door. It managed to slam shut behind him before his back could get roasted right off of him. Ky slumped against the far wall, panting.
What on earth had all that been about?
“Honey?” Dizzy’s voice came from his side. Sure enough, there she was. Had she followed him? Or had the noise caught her attention?
“Dizzy? Are you alright?”
“I was going to ask you that.” Her brow crinkled in concern, and she reached out to touch the top of his head. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“I’m fine.” Ky assured her. “But something is up with Sol. He’s taken his suppressor off, and he won’t let me anywhere near him or the kids.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?” She turned and approached the door, gently creaking it open. “Father?”
“Dizzy, be careful- !”
The growling started up again, now muffled from the door partly in the way. Ky was a half moment away from grabbing her by the collar and yanking her back, but she began to giggle, like absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary.
“Ah. I see. I’ll leave you alone now.” She must have been talking to Sol, but Ky couldn’t hear him saying anything coherent in response. “You’re doing a wonderful job. I’ll leave you to it.”
She closed the door again, completely calm and completely unharmed.
“H-how on earth did you- ?” Ky was beyond baffled. “How did you do that? Why didn’t he attack you? Was there something about your scent? Do Gears have some kind of-”
“Hehe! Relax, honey.” Dizzy reached down to pat him on the head. "I think he’s just gotten a bit too much into the role.”
“‘Role?’”
“Well, Gears have to protect their nests, after all. It’s a childcare instinct. He must have decided that’s his.”
This was already giving him a headache. “So...you’re saying Sol has decided that the children are all baby Gears that need to be protected?”
Dizzy began to laugh at that. “Well, I’m glad you seem to find it amusing.”
“Just relax, Ky. I’m sure it’ll wear off. He usually has very good control over his instincts. I suppose it must have just been the right circumstances to trigger them. I think it’s kind of cute to see. And if it really does worry you, I can stay nearby and check on them every so often, alright?”
He thought for a moment, finally shaking his head and breaking a smile. “Alright. But just one more thing.”
“Of course, what is it?”
“If he starts trying to groom anyone, I want pictures.”