Work Text:
August 26, 2020
Loke entered Crime Sorciere after a long day in court. Handing his briefcase over to Natsu to put behind the bar, he took a seat next to Lyon, awaiting some sort of friendly insult in greeting, surprised when he didn’t get one.
“What’s the matter with him?” Loke asked Natsu as he ordered his usual drink, noticing that Lyon was staring off into space. “Did he lose a case or something?”
“I don’t think so. When he loses a case, he just goes off into a rant,” Natsu shrugged, mixing Loke’s drink before walking away to talk to another customer.
Loke decided that if Lyon wanted to talk, he’d do so, and seeing a pretty girl a few stools over, he introduced himself. When he returned twenty minutes later, he noticed Lyon had not seemed to have moved an inch.
Motioning Natsu for another drink, he stared at his friend with concern, “Okay, that’s it! You’re acting creepy as hell. What’s gotten into you?”
Lyon seemed to notice his presence for the first time, startling out of his trance and blinking at him, “Did you say something?”
“Yes! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re sitting there like some damn statue, it’s unnatural,” Loke complained.
“I just- I had some unexpected news, that’s all,” Lyon shrugged, trying to pretend like the matter held no importance, but Loke knew better.
It took a lot to shake Lyon. The man was like a fucking robot sometimes. He didn’t laugh at jokes, or hit on people, didn’t respond to advances of any kind, just worked hard at his cases. And he was damn good at what he did. He rarely lost.
He continued to stare at him, trying to see if he could somehow figure out what could be bothering him, but after a few more minutes of silence, he decided just to go ahead and ask.
“What type of news?” Loke asked, for once trying to be tactful. For all he knew, the guy’s parents could have taken ill or something.
When Lyon didn’t answer right away, he pushed a little, figuring that he’d call Gray and let him deal with it if that didn’t work. “Hey, we’re friends, remember?”
“You’re just going to turn it into a joke.”
“Hey, I resent that! I can take things seriously too, I couldn’t do my job otherwise,” Loke reminded him.
“Alright, but I swear if you’re an asshole about it, I won’t trust you with anything again.”
Loke made the cross your heart gesture and waited for Lyon to tell him what was bothering him.
“I think I’m a father,” Lyon breathed out, and from the panicked expression on his face, it was clear that it was the first time he’d said the words out loud.
“You knocked someone up?” Loke sputtered, “When the hell did you manage that? I’ve never seen you dating anyone.”
“Not to state the obvious, but you don’t have to date people to have sex with them. And you wouldn’t have seen it anyway. It happened over a decade ago. The girl has already turned fourteen.”
“That’s great, isn’t it?” Loke asked, “I have three daughters, and they’re awesome!”
“Yeah, but you’ve been a part of their lives from the very beginning, and you’ll continue to do so after the divorce is final. Her mother never told me anything, what am I supposed to do?”
Loke did some math in his head, “So this was in high school? Were you guys dating?”
Lyon shook his head, hiding his head in his hands, “She had a thing for me, and right before I left for college, we got together. It was only one night.”
“Well, that’s all it really takes,” Loke pointed out.
“Yes, Loke, I am well aware of how babies are made, thank you.”
“Wait, if the mom never told you, how did you find out?”
“The girl, who I suspect to be my daughter, called me at work. She’s looking for her father. She knows the man her mother is married to isn’t her biological father.”
“Did you tell her you were him?”
“Of course not! You don’t just blurt that sort of thing over the phone,” Lyon peered at Loke’s dumbfounded expression and amended, “Well, most of us wouldn’t.”
“I don’t see what the problem is, go talk to the mom. She can tell you whether you’re the father or not.”
“It’s not that easy. I can’t just waltz into this kid’s life and say, ‘Gee sorry you’ve never heard from me before, but I’m your dad.’”
“Don’t be an idiot, of course you can. It’s not your fault you weren’t there, you didn’t know,” Loke reminded him. “I’m sure if you had, things would have been different.”
When Lyon didn’t answer right away, Loke pressed, “You would have been there for them, right?”
Lyon looked away, appearing embarrassed, “I was a different person back then. I might have grown to resent her, or…” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug, “I just don’t know.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Loke scoffed, “Look, I think you’re missing a critical point here. She’s looking for you. She wants to meet you, maybe have you be a part of her life.”
“But what if knowing me messes her up?” Lyon looked horrified, and Loke had to laugh at him.
“Welcome to fatherhood, we’re all one step away from messing up our kid’s lives,” Loke grinned, “Dude, you’re like the most standup guy I‘ve ever met, I doubt you could mess her up if you tried. The best advice I can give you is to make sure you go through the mother if you want any chance of this not turning into a huge mess. But I think if it turns out you’re right, and she is your daughter, and you don’t do anything about it, you will regret it.”
Lyon’s eyes bored into him as he considered his words, and Loke met his gaze unwaveringly. He’d never seen this side of Lyon before, and he had to admit he rather liked it, even if it was a bit disconcerting to see him show actual feelings. He offered him an encouraging smile.
“You’re probably right,” Lyon finally responded, eyes softening slightly as he added, “Who would have thought you’d be the voice of reason.”
“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose,” Loke’s mouth twitched in amusement at the backhanded compliment. He motioned for Natsu to bring them a round of drinks.
“You feeling better?” Natsu asked, placing the drinks in front of them and glancing at Lyon with concern.
“Yeah, I’m good now.”
Natsu nodded and left them to their drinks. They sat silently, and Loke was surprised to realize he didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest.
“So, uhm, what’s it like to be a dad?” Lyon asked suddenly, startling Loke out of his thoughts.
“It’s amazing,” Loke said with a proud smile. “Stressful, exhausting, chaotic...but you get so much in return. No amount of money I make or cases I win can compare to that feeling of coming home to my girls jumping into my arms.”
“It is kind of nice when Aki does that, the days when I get home early enough anyway,” Lyon admitted with a shy smile.
Had he ever seen Lyon genuinely smile before? He didn’t think so. It was actually kind of nice. Loke didn’t know quite how to respond to this unguarded side of Lyon, so he reverted back to more comfortable ground.
“I’m still trying to accept the fact that you’ve ever gotten laid,” he teased, “I was pretty sure you were such a hardass cause you were still a virgin.”
“No, I’m a hardass cause you’re a pain,” Lyon retorted but soon recanted, “But I guess sometimes you’re alright.”
“Just sometimes? I’ll have you know I’m fucking awesome all the time!”
Loke kept up the banter for the rest of the night, staying at Crime Sorciere with Lyon until closing time. It was the most fun he’d had in quite a while, and he couldn’t help but think he’d like to spend more time with this Lyon, and hoped that it wouldn’t take another life-changing discovery for them to share a night like this again.