Work Text:
Clement spluttered in disbelief at his elven companion.
“What do you mean he’s busy, he’s four!"
Amiya didn’t look up from their knitting, lounged across their bed with feet propped up and idly watching the child, “I mean he’s busy and you can’t take him right now. Look at him, he's in the middle of making me a picture. Don’t interrupt him.”
Clement shot his gaze down to the floor where Jonas sat, cross-legged in front of the hearth with a mound of soggy chalk and scrap parchment around him. He had at least four different colors splotched across himself, his clothes, the floor… somehow Amiya never batted an eye when he made a mess of things. Clement couldn’t stand stepping in and tracking damp pigments across his home.
He could tell from the boy’s fidgeting that Jonas was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening while he scribbled. He frowned.
“That’s hardly more important than his lessons, I need him to finish his writing page before he goes to sleep, ‘else Pannaben will wring my neck again.”
“Well that’s hardly his fault that you forgot to sit him down when it was still daylight hours.” they turned their head to look over at Clement, who was still standing stiffly at the door, with a tinge of judgement. He just stood there frowning at them. He was always frowning.
They sighed.
“Alright little duckling, I suppose it may be time for you to waddle on home.”
The heap of black and teal on the floor made a noise of complaint, but set down the chunk of chalk in his hand, finally looking up to Clement with disappointment. Clement raised his eyebrows at the boy until he stood from the floor, brushing the dust off his nightclothes and stepping away from his impromptu work station. He looked over to Amiya, who peeked down to him over the footboard.
Jonas crawled his way up onto their oversized bed, still not quite tall enough to hop up in one go, but he was getting there. He made his way to Amiya’s side, who instinctually wrapped an arm around him when he got close enough, cradling him in to their shoulder. He cupped a hand next to their long ear and took a breath.
His voice bubbled out behind his hand like the soft tap of rain on glass, and a smile crept across their face as he whispered in their ear, but not quietly enough to really be secretive.
“Can I sleep over at Miya’s next time, when I don’t have to do lessons?”
Amiya pulled him into a tight hug, pressing their cheek to the top of his head. His floating curls tickled their face as he snaked his own arms round their neck. “Yes, of course, my little dewdrop. Next time when you don’t have so many responsibilities to take care of.” They pulled him away gently to look at his face. He was pouting. He was always pouting. But he seemed to have made peace with leaving the Owl tonight by his underlying expression.
They gave him a kiss on his forehead like they always did. Once they pulled away he put his own little kiss on theirs in return, then slid himself back down to the floor from the bed. He stood peeking his eyes over the edge of the mattress at them a moment longer.
"Goodnightsleeptight!"
“Goodnight, Jonas.” they chuckled, “Sleep tight, I’ll see you for lunch tomorrow.”
His face brightened immediately at the suggestion of their visit, smile beaming with missing teeth even in the dim of the room. He slid a hand over his mouth as though their new lunch date was his greatest secret before turning around from the bed.
Clement held out a hand and sighed to cover the hint of a smile on his own face, collecting Jonas’s chalk-stained one when he finally padded over to his side. “Come on now, just a little of the writing page for me, then we can do the rest in the morning. Okay?”
“Do I have to…”
“Yes, Jonas, you have to. One page isn’t too bad, you’ll have a lot of work ahead of you greater than this, my boy.” Clement pushed open the door, casting a look over his shoulder to Amiya as he left.
“Lock the back on your way out, canard.” they called after him, waving a hand and pulling their yarn back into their lap. Clement grunted from outside the bedroom before they eventually heard the click of the back door and the flip of a latch beyond it. Good.
He better not keep that kid up too late, they thought, knitting away at the rug with a bit of annoyance. They will not put up with a cranky Clement dropping off a cranky genasi in the middle of their lunch rush tomorrow.
After a few more minutes of silent knitting, Amiya rose from their bed and went to gather up Jonas’s little work station on the floor. Better to collect it now than to tragically find it with their feet in the morning. They scooped the bits of chalk into his woven basket and began collecting the papers.
There were random letters scrawled across most of them, jumbled attempts at the few names he knew of people. He seemed to be getting the hang of drawing all of the letters facing the correct way, they mused, and shuffled through the next few sheets.
Scribbles of colors, a page of clustered blue and green circles, perhaps it was the sky light window? There was another page with some ducks drawn across it, but the last piece of parchment in the stack made them feel the need to sit down to admire it.
There on the page, in totally nonsensical colors given his options of chalk, was a drawing of themselves. It was adorable, in the way all children's drawings were, and warmed the elf’s heart just by having it in their hands. This was the first time they could recall that he’s drawn a person with both arms and legs on it’s body. He was getting better, he was growing up so fast…
...He had drawn their ears longer than their entire body in order to fit their jewelry. Amiya cracked out a laugh. If only they had that much space to decorate.
They stood again from their bed and set the collection of drawings up safely on their side table, clapping the excess chalk from their hands. They would find a place to put them for safe keeping in the morning. For now, it was time to catch up on some work.