Work Text:
When Laszlo saw Colin Robinson alone on the floor in the middle of that empty room, naked and vulnerable in his infancy, he knew that he needed to provide him with care and protection. He also knew that his good lady wife would never permit such a thing, nor would he expect her to. He couldn’t subject her to his attempt at playing caretaker for a young, fresh energy vampire. This was something he would do alone.
Nobody else cared enough about Colin Robinson to help anyway, so there was no point in telling them. They all had bigger fish to fry. Especially Nadja. Laszlo would never want to keep her from going to London and making a name for herself on the Worldwide Vampiric Council. He wholeheartedly believed in her ability to face the harsh reality of England on her own. But he wasn’t so sure if she would have believed that he was capable of facing the reality of raising a baby, an energy vampire baby at that, on his own. If he was being honest with himself, Laszlo wasn’t so sure in his ability either.
After about two days into caring for young Colin, Laszlo was seriously beginning to wonder what the fuck he had been thinking. Colin Robinson was an absolute fucking nightmare. Over the years, Laszlo had heard that human babies only cry when they need something, like if they want food or if they’ve shit their diaper, but energy vampire babies cry just to piss people off. Nonstop wailing and whining so they can absorb all of the frustrated and angry energy in the room.
Laszlo figured that Colin Robinson must not have possessed the memories from his past life because if he did, he’d like to believe that Colin would have given him a fucking break from all the crying every now and then. After everything Laszlo had done for Colin before his death- becoming his friend, saving him from a siren, arranging a hundredth birthday bash for him- the least the baby could do is not be such a fucking leech.
On the fourth day of caring for young Colin, Laszlo hired a live-in nanny. She was a strong one- lasted about three days. All of the others he hired after her could barely last twenty-four bloody hours with him. Eventually, he ran out of people to hire and he was stuck with taking care of the little shit by himself again.
After a few days, Laszlo finally found a solution to his problem. Turns out, baby Colin Robinson is fond of his piano playing. He hadn’t had much time for music, taking care of Colin and all, until one night he couldn’t take the incessant crying anymore and needed to find a way to unwind. So, Laszlo took young Colin to the music room and put him in the corner, then cranked out a ditty on the piano.
Laszlo would never admit it but taking care of the slobbering, stupid baby version of Colin Robinson had him thinking a lot about the real Colin Robinson- his friend. His ruminations of past memories led him to play a lovely song on the piano he had heard a few years back called “We’ll Meet Again.” As he played the soft tune, young Colin stopped his crying. He was transfixed by the sounds from the piano and Laszlo finally had some peace. He played all night. Colin didn’t fall asleep though- energy vampires didn’t need much rest- but he was quiet and that was all that mattered to Laszlo.
From then on, he was able to calm young Colin at a moment’s notice. However, he knew that Colin Robinson still needed to feed off of his energy every now and then. So, Laszlo allowed him to cry for many hours throughout the day, but at least he had control of it. Eventually, he realized that it was much easier on him, and more nutritious for young Colin, if Laszlo took him out in public areas when he was crying. He particularly enjoyed bringing Colin Robinson to the moving picture shows, letting him bawl and sap energy from annoyed moviegoers.
Luckily for Laszlo, Colin Robinson’s infancy only lasted about a month. It seems that energy vampires grow at startlingly fast rates. He’s started walking now and Laszlo is amazed at his skill already. Unfortunately, he’s just learned how to talk and won’t shut the fuck up. Every time Colin opens his mouth an asinine question comes out, followed by about fifty more. Laszlo is doing his best to deal with it all.
Young Colin calls him ‘daddy’ now. Laszlo isn’t quite sure how he feels about it. He has a suspicion that Colin Robinson only says it because he knows that it makes Laszlo slightly uneasy. Little bastard is smarter than he seems.
The truth is, as difficult as it’s been raising young Colin, Laszlo finds an odd sense of accomplishment in it. Pride in seeing him grow before his eyes. Laszlo figures, in a way, he is Colin Robinson’s daddy now. And that’s all right with him.