Work Text:
Stitching up at his light purple leggings, Darius hummed peacefully, mending a stubborn stitch that had ripped with force after a particular guard had accidentally dragged their spear far too close past the Coven head, as they rushed to their assigned station- earning them a heavy scolding from the older man.
It was midday and he was seated in his office, earning himself the break Coven heads got that the guards often didn't. He couldn't lie, Darius pitied their poor souls- although maybe not the foolish, little one who had ruined his perfect garments.
Sighing, he placed down the fabric in hand with the needle laid on top of it and grabbed for the cup of coffee he had prepared earlier, as he took in a big sip.
" Dada !"
Almost choking on his drink, Darius placed the mug down on his desk and turned to the little witch's voice that rung, coming through the door that he cursed himself for forgetting to lock.
Last time he checked, he had no children, but the little 'menace' that waddled into the room wasn't his son.
"Hunter! What are you doing here?!" Alert, Darius gave a quick circle of his finger to pull the fabric and needle away from his lap, before the little boy could run up to him, as he stood.
"Uncle Belos said I could explore the castle and I wanted to see you!" In a sweet, high-pitched tone the four year old clung onto his leg, looking up at him with a wide, toothy grin with no need to hide the gap that lay between his two front teeth.
At that, Darius couldn't help, but smile. "I'm glad you did, little prince." With a ruffle of his shaggy, short, blonde hair Darius kneeled down to his level.
"What are you doing, Dada?" Curiously, he eyed over the torn garments with his round, ruby eyes akin to the stone itself.
"You can't call me that Hunter…" With a sigh, Darius returned to his handiwork, trying not to think too hard on an impressionable child's words.
It's not that he necessarily disliked Hunter's fond attachment to him, finding the boy to be a pleasant company whenever he was on babysitting duty or the witchlet happened to stumble upon him during coven duties, but it did bring to light many questions surrounding him Darius held silently.
"Why not?" Hunter questioned with a childish innocence.
"Because…" Darius stuttered, "Actually, nevermind." Hunter gave a hum and swiftly moved subject, leaning over Darius' lap.
"What's this?" He pointed a finger to the perfectly neat stitch Darius had sewn in with a matching thread.
" That is my sewing, little dove." He smiled softly over the young witchlet.
"Can I help?"
"I'm afraid you're too small for that, but you can watch and learn." With an instructive point of his finger he demonstrated his technique to the boy who watched with a stubborn pout before speaking up.
"But I wanna help!" Throwing up his hands, he pleaded.
"No Hunter! You'll hurt yourself!" Darius scolded with a harsher tone that made the young boy wince, eyes watery at an instant, as he curled up his fists by his side, biting down on his lip.
At this, Darius panicked, putting his craft aside and holding the boy's shoulders. "Wait, wait! Don't cry!" However he flurry didn't do much to aid the boy's rush of tears and wailing. "No no no, stop it!"
"Coven head Darius?"
Turning his head desperately, the coven head was met by the eyes of Raine Whispers, a fellow colleague who looked over paperwork despite not being a coven head themselves. It appeared they had been alerted by the sound of the boy's crying.
"Is everything okay?" Their soft green eyes had clear discomfort in them.
"No!" Darius snapped, still holding Hunter, kneeling to his level, "Help me calm him down!" He commanded.
"Why's he crying?" Walking over to the two, they crouched down.
"I just told him he can't help me sew! You know how children are, they have fumbly little hands! He'd hurt himself!" Through his fluster he rapidly spoke, Hunter continuing to cry out in despair.
Raine raised a brow and looked Darius in the eye. "Did you yell at him?"
"Well- I- a little bit! He wouldn't listen!" He threw up his hands.
Rubbing their temples, Raine sighed. "That's why he's crying, you won't get anywhere by yelling at him."
Patting Hunter's head, they got the young boy to face them. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Darius wasn't mad at you, he was just worried, okay?" With a soothing tone, they calmed him, Hunter facing them, as he wiped his eyes with his stubby hands. "Everything's alright."
With a pout Hunter sniffled, looking at Darius expectantly. "Are you angry at me?"
"Of course not, little prince." Wrapping his large arms around the boy's small size, he patted his head. Hunter hugged back, squeezing.
"How about I teach you some music, if you can't sew?" With a warm smile Raine asked the boy who looked at them excitedly, nodding his head.
"Yes yes, why don't you do that elsewhere ?" Darius commented, soft tone, yet sassy emphasis. Not being the biggest fan of noise disturbing his quiet workplace.
"Why do that, when I have my trusty flute right with me? And I'm sure Hunter would love to show you what he can do." With a cheeky smile, they grinned at him.
"Yes!" Delightedly, the boy looked up at Darius with a starry-eyed look that only made him sigh.
"Then why don't we start our lesson?" Taking a seat on the decorative, red, velvet couch that Darius kept in his office, Raine sat Hunter down next to them, while Darius let out an exhale.
"While you two do that, I'll be getting back to business." He huffed, returning to his stitching, as Raine chuckled and Hunter giggled along with them.
_
"This is a song I always play when I'm sad or upset."
With an inhale, the bard pressed the wooden pipe instrument to their lips, blowing out a sweet, harmonic melody that Darius smiled along to, as the essence of love, peace, light and comfort pushed out the sadness that they connoted to. The high pitched rhythm tapped in and out, making the room the threes own private, quiet choir of the bard's song, the quiet look of admiration and wonder Hunter gave that spoke more words than could be said and Darius' occasional hums.
"That was amazing!" High pitched, Hunter squealed with a blush and a twinkle.
"I will admit Raine, you have a way with instruments." Darius pitched in.
"Why thank you, years worth of practice in the bard coven helps." They sassily pitched in with a teasing smile. Putting down their flute, a soft smile came to their lips. "My Aunt taught me that song. I was about 5 when I sprained my ankle and to distract me she taught me it." Rubbing the back of their neck, they blushed.
"She sounds like a good woman." Darius nodded.
"She was." They rested their eyes with a smile back. "Anyways, now it's your turn."
Handing the instrument to Hunter, they laid back, letting him experiment, as the boy tilted around the tube structure, poking his thick fingers in the holes.
"That's not how you play-" Darius pitched in before Raine shushed him.
Eventually the boy decided to blow into the top, making the worst noise the two had ever heard.
Raine winced and Darius gritted his teeth. "How about we try it a different way…" The bard took the flute from his hands, correcting him gently.
_
Laying back on the small wall that encompassed the side of the window, Hunter laid back, sat on the sill, looking down at the boy in his lap who had glassy, gold eyes that were wet under the moonlight's kiss that had fallen in love with him too. His coarse hands brushed through fluffy, green hair like feather dawn, as he murmured something to Hunter, arms wrapped around him.
Hunter had swooped by to his window after a rough night with his mother and although Hunter had no interaction with the rather desperate woman aside from the Emperor's deals with Blight Industries, he could only imagine how daunting living with a witch like her could be.
The boy had tears streaming down his pale face, his concealment stone had been disregarded in his misery, as he laid vulnerable in front of the guard boy. Hunter knew how much Edric valued that piece of jewellery, yet right now it seemed his looks he fussed so often about were the last thing on his mind.
In the silence of the night Hunter thought, what could comfort Edric? What would comfort him ? The boy's wriggling digged something to his thigh and Hunter perked up, pulling out his flute that fit perfectly into his obnoxiously large pockets.
It was a gift for his 7th birthday, after about 3 years of studying under Raine Whispers, it was the closest he could get to bard magic, he had acquired his own instrument to continue the craft. Nowadays, it often lay disregarded and neglected with the increase of his duties that chewed up and swallowed the little time he had for himself, but recently he had started carrying it around on him, practicing the craft on creeping, silent patrols under the cover of night, the whistling of the wind passing through his songs.
Tugging it up, he held it in his hands, inspecting the fine cuts and whittling. Edric's golden eyes peered curiously up at him.
"Do you just always have that with you?" He gave a humourless chuckle.
"Well, I suppose?" He thought for a second. "Would you like to hear a song?" He offered, cheeks tinting pale, powdery pink.
Edric smiled curiously. "Sure, I'd like to see what you can do, goldie."
Breathing in, Hunter held it up, before preparing to blow out a gentle tune into the night.
"Someone taught me this song to play when you're sad or upset."