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Admittedly, and quite fittingly, Datz Are’bal was not good with children. It’s not that he hated them or that they hated him, but rather that he just couldn’t parent. He found it impossible to discipline children, valuing fun over any other sort of morals in a fearful attempt to not traumatise or hurt them. Thus earning him the technical title of ‘bad with kids’.
Luckily for Datz, however, this treatment was easily balanced out by one Dhurke Sahdmadhi, who seemed to be born to handle kids. He was gentle but commanding, stern when he needed to be but never harsh. He was the sort of man that made you consider and question the quality of your own father, a man that made you go, ‘Do I have daddy issues?’.
Probably.
But no man or dragon is immune to folly, and thus, neither was Dhurke. He was a great father and an admirable person, but he was guarded. Understandably so, considering how his life had fallen apart in the blink of an eye and now here he was, caring for one orphan and a child that reminded him hauntingly of his dead wife if the light hit their face the right way. Now, Datz knew better than anyone that being guarded was far from being a bad thing, but kids don’t see it that way. They’re curious creatures, desperate to know anything about everything, their minds not quite grasping the idea of personal space or ‘privacy’. So sometimes, when Dhurke would get quiet or refuse to answer a question or get tense when the kids pulled on his shirt without warning, Apollo and Nahyuta would take it personally.
It didn’t affect them much when it happened, but little things add up and eventually boil over, and every so often, the kids would sit in their rooms and sob silently, careful not to bother anybody.
Unfortunately for them, though, kids are not as good at keeping quiet as they think they are, and Dhurke would hear them, wherever he was in the house, and he would frown as guilt washed over him. That’s where Datz came in, skilled in appearing at the worst of times.
He knocked on the door three times and before waiting for an answer, he bumped the door open with his hip and made his grand entrance, gifts overflowing in his hands. Most were for the kids, various toys and clothes (not that they were fond of wearing them), but he always brought things for Dhurke too. Boring stuff mainly, like information about the state of the Khura'in law system and how the Defiant Dragon operation is shaping up, but also little things to keep him happy. Stories from Khura’inese children about the mighty and fearsome Dhurke, a dartboard with Ga’rans face on it, yak milk, anything he could get his hands on that smelled like lavender. Things like that.
Naturally, with his gift-giving tendencies, his arrivals typically had more fanfare. But this time, all he was greeted with was Dhurke sitting at the dining table with his head in his hands and faint high-pitched sobbing. Datz fixed his playful demeanour into something more fitting and set the gifts down on the floor in a precarious pile near the door. He knew Dhurke wasn’t the most willing to talk about his feelings, so he walked past the man, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly as he did so, and went straight for the kids room.
Datz took a quiet breath as he gently pushed the door open. Apollo and Nahyuta stared at him, horrified. Their faces were wet but they weren’t crying anymore, too focused on the interruption, too focused on the fear of being caught in the act of weakness. They were huddled up on Apollo’s bed, the one near the window. Apollo had claimed it almost automatically, saying that he needed to be closest to any place of visibility, just in case his dad came looking for him. Nahyuta had, in response, simply shrugged and said that they wanted the bed closest to the door anyways, so that their dad could see them too. Just in case.
Datz closed the door behind him, took his boots off, and climbed onto the end of Apollo’s bed, facing the two. He ignored how it creaked under his weight, threatening to collapse any second due to the presence of full adult weight on its child-made frame. But Apollo, sharp as ever, wouldn’t let him forget, frowning and saying through a cracked and weak voice: “You’re gonna break my bed.”
“No I won’t.” Was Datz’s simple response.
“Yeah you will, I heard it make a noise when you sat on it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m magic. So I can’t break anything. It was probably just making a noise to scare me off. But I can’t be scared. ‘Cuz I’m magic.”
Apollo and Nahyuta looked at eachother, making various expressions in clear attempt to make a silent decision. After a minute of careful consideration, Nahyuta nodded. “Ok. We believe you.”
Datz grinned at the approval. “So. Why are you guys crying?”
“We weren–” They began, in terrifying unison.
“I’m magic. Don’t lie to me.”
Apollo’s frown deepened. “We think Dhurke hates us.”
Ok, that was slightly more serious than Datz had prepared for. He thought somebody got their period or something. Well, maybe not thought. No, deep down, he knew that when he came in here he would have to face something dark. But he hoped it would be a period. That, at least, would make for a good story. This wasn’t a good story, this was just sad.
Datz instinctively scooted closer, his maternal instincts taking over. Which was strange, considering he wasn’t a mother. Or had any capability to be a mother. “Why do you think that?”
Tears beginning back up again, Nahyuta sniffled. “He just does. He’s never happy when we’re around.”
A pang hit Datz’s heart. This was why he was bad at parenting. He let the kids’ emotions affect his own to an unhelpful extent, with most disputes and arguments ending in him placating both Nahyuta and Apollo with candies and toys. He was easily swayed when it came to them.
“Well…a good lawyer always has evidence to back up their claims.” He looked between the two, head held high. “Where is your evidence?”
This stumped the kids. They knew they had no concrete proof to back up their claims, but feelings don’t listen to facts. They were still upset at the end of the day, even if they couldn’t logically explain why.
So, Datz nodded at this and put one hand on Apollo’s shoulder and the other on Nahyuta’s. His voice was uncharacteristically soft as he spoke. “Your father loves you very much. He gets distant sometimes because…he’s an adult who has a lot on his plate. This isn’t because he doesn’t love you. I mean, c’mon, who would ever hate you guys?”
His mini speech didn’t have as monumental an impact as he had hoped, with the kids still biting back tears. But they smiled now, just a little. Datz used his shoulder vantage point to pull the two into a hug that swallowed them whole. They leaned into Datz and for once, everything was good. Not for long, obviously, as he still had one more job to do: Help Dhurke.
So, he scooped up the two kids with ease, one resting on each of his hips. With a sense of blind determination, Datz walked back to the dining room, staring at the back of Dhurke’s head, still planted firmly in his hands. Hands occupied by children, Datz nudged Dhurke’s foot with his own. He looked up, dazed for a second before regaining his train of thought. His features warmed into a smile that only Dhurke could do. It was, in actuality, a normal smile, but Datz, Apollo, and Nahyuta all found something special about it. It wasn’t a normal smile, not to them. To them, it was Dhurke’s smile.
“How ya doin’ buddy?” Datz joked, knowing that ‘buddy’ was far too informal to describe them.
Dhurke, in the presence of his children, lied through his teeth. “Good. And you?”
“Pretty good, and I think Yuty and AJ can say the same.” Datz bounced his respective hip with each name, eliciting a giggle out of both of them. “We wanted to make sure you were feeling as tough as a dragon.”
Apollo and Nahyuta nodded fervently to back up Datz’s statement. He leaned down so that they could see Dhurke better.
“Well, with you three here, why wouldn’t I be?” Dhurke scooped up the kids now that they were on an even level, relieving Datz of the weight. Not that he couldn’t handle it, he was pretty goddamn spry if he said so himself.
Dhurke kissed the kids on their heads and held them close, and Datz couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around them all. This was it. The perfect moment. Nothing could get better than this and nothing could ruin this, genuinely. He had his partner (in more ways than one) and he had his sort-of-but-not-exactly kids. He was apart of a revolution for the greater good and he dissolved emotional tensions. Ga’ran herself could burst down the door and it wouldn’t ruin the fact that even if it ended, this moment happened. Datz was whole and not only that, he was a piece of something greater than himself. A family. An on-the-run criminal family, but a family nonetheless.