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Yor didn’t know what to do.
When she heard the front door open, Yor had gotten up from the couch to greet her husband. She saw Loid take off his coat and shoes with a cold expression, and when he lifted his head up to look at her, he scrunched up his nose and stormed off to his bedroom.
At first her mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that Loid was mad at her, which caused her to spiral through a series of questions and scenarios. What did she do? Was it her breakfast this morning? Did he decide he didn’t want to be married to an assassin anymore and was going to leave with Anya?
Yor shook her head and took a deep breath. No, that wasn’t it. He must have had a bad day at work. Yor can’t imagine what must’ve happened, as Loid was usually calm and composed. He rarely let anything visibly show it got under his skin. She probably shouldn’t ask what happened, either…
But it was her duty as a wife to make her husband feel better! She pressed her ear against Loid’s bedroom door before softly knocking against it.
“Go ‘way!”
Yor flinched back, startled by the response, but she did not back down. She gently opened the door to reveal a Loid-shaped lump under the covers.
Yor’s heart ached at seeing her baby so upset. She approached the bedside and squatted down. “Oh, my baby… Did you have a bad day?”
She reached out her hand, but Loid turned away with a humph! Yor sighed internally. It must’ve been a really bad day if he’s this grumpy… Not to mention the fact that he immediately regressed as soon as he came home.
She stood back up and crossed her arms, thinking about what she could do to make Loid feel better. Maybe a snack? Peanuts for Anya were an instant mood improver. If she was upset and they gave her peanuts, she would immediately light up like a Christmas tree and become happy and bubbly again. Loid regressed to around the same age, so maybe that would work on him, too?
Yor stood up and said sweetly, “How about a snack, hm? You worked very hard today, so you must be hungry.”
As she said this, she pulled back the covers and picked up Loid. He was holding his old, worn, stuffed bear while sporting the biggest pout Yor had ever seen. As she picked him up, he huffed and kicked his feet in protest for a moment, but he ultimately gave up and hid his face in the crook of Yor’s neck.
She sat him on the couch as she rummaged through the kitchen to try and find an acceptable snack. Peanuts? Pretzels? Goldfish? There were so many options, and Yor had to find the right one! Loid’s mood depended on it! And what kind of caregiver would she be if she didn’t give her baby the snacks he liked?
She opened the fridge and saw a small plate of croquettes. Oh, Loid had cooked those yesterday! He must like them then, right? She smiled as she pulled the croquettes out of the fridge. Yes, these were the perfect snack!
Yor placed the snacks on the coffee table and sat down next to Loid. Loid fiddled with his bear’s limbs, paying no mind to Yor.
“Here are some croquettes.” she motioned towards the plate. “Do you want some?”
Loid shook his head. Yor frowned and picked up a croquette. “Baby, please? They’re very tasty.” She popped the croquette into her mouth and made a dramatic show of how delicious it was.
Loid looked up at her, then the croquettes, and frowned, “Not hun’gy.”
Yor sighed internally, stared at the rejected croquettes, and then at Loid. She was quickly racking her brain for more ideas, but Yor was at a loss. She couldn’t think of anything, and she was berating herself for it. This was the kind of situation where she should know what to do! She was the caregiver! It hurt to see Loid so upset and stressed, and she wasn’t doing anything…
So she did the only thing she could do. She wrapped Loid in a big bear hug. He blinked, surprised, as Yor picked him up and started to sway from side to side, effectively rocking Loid.
At first, Loid fussed and tried to push back, but the soothing rhythm and the calming sound of Yor’s voice made him forget why he was fussy and angry in the first place. Mama didn’t do anything, so why was he being mean to her? He wasn’t upset with her, it wasn’t her fault…
*sniff*
Yor’s swaying and singing came to a halt.
*sniff*
“Oh, baby, why are you crying?” Yor shifted Loid to one arm so she could wipe away a few tears that ran down his cheeks. “What’s wrong, hm?”
Loid sniffed, “Not fair.”
Yor started to lightly bounce Loid in her hold. “What’s not fair?”
Loid grumbled, angrily kicked his feet, and threw his stuffie onto the floor. After that, he buried his face in Yor’s shoulder, not elaborating on his previous statement.
“It’s alright,” Yor said as she rubbed Loid’s back. “Let it all out.”
And with those words, the waterworks immediately turned on. Loid burst out sobbing, the sound loud enough to wake up Bond from his nap. Yor sat down on the couch so she could hug Loid better and bounced him on her knee.
Loid was yelling something, but the words were too jumbled with sobs and baby babbling that Yor couldn’t understand it. He also softly banged his fists against Yor’s back, but soon ran out of energy and simply let himself cry while Yor held him.
One part of Loid’s brain was absolutely humiliated that Twilight, Westalis’ best spy, was sniveling and sobbing like a baby. Again. But he had learned that this place was safe. Mama was safe. He finally found a safe place where he could just be himself and show his true emotions.
This wasn’t just about that mission that went wrong that night. Twilight was crying for everything leading up to that point, after denying himself the right to grieve for years. Denying himself to cry like this since…
Since General, Corporal, and Major were still alive.
…
It wasn’t fair. War never was.
And Twilight was sick of war.
But seeing his loving family each and every day when he got home… Made him gain a little hope that what he was doing would be worth it in the end. It wouldn’t just be for nothing.
Peace will be achieved.
After Loid's crying started to die down, Yor set him down so she could face him.
Yor reached into her pocket to grab a handkerchief and wiped away the dampness and snot on Loid’s face. “Do you feel better? Get all the yuckies out?"
Loid hiccuped and shakily nodded before clumsily making grabby hands towards Yor. She eagerly hugged him and patted his back.
Bond, who had been woken up and was now curious of the scene before him, jumped up onto the couch next to Loid and started licking his face, which instantly turned Loid’s sobs into giggles.
“B-Bond! Stop!” Loid laughed as he weakly batted the big dog away from him.
Yor giggled at the sight and cheered Bond on. “Yeah, get him, Bond! Give him some kisses!”
Bond’s licking seemed to increase, and Loid went toppling over onto his back with Bond literally on top of him.
At that moment, Yor pounced. She gave a playful rawr! and started to smother Loid with kisses as well.
“Mama! That tickles!”
“But I love you so much!” Yor said in between kisses.
Bond’s licking started to die down, so Yor began to stop as well. The tears were gone, replaced by dog slobber and laughter. After allowing Loid to catch his breath for a moment, Yor threw him in the air and caught him, which excited Loid once again.
He giggled and cheered, “Again! Again!”
So Yor threw him again, then again, then again. The only sounds in the house were their laughter and Bond’s excited barking. As she caught him for the final time, she did a little spin and clutched Loid to her chest.
“I love you, my baby.”
Loid wrapped his arms around Yor’s neck. “Lov ‘ou too, Mama. ‘M sorry I was mean…”
Yor kissed his cheek. “It’s alright. We got all those yucky feelings out, and that’s what’s important! So now we can have fun!” She nuzzled her cheek against his. “What do you wanna do?”
She had an inkling of what the answer was going to be as soon as she asked that question, and her hunch was right. Loid simply snuggled in closer to her and tightened his hold. She smiled and sat down on the couch so she could better hold him, not before quickly grabbing Loid’s stuffed bear from off the floor.
She smiled as she looked down at Loid lying down in her lap, content and comfy.
Maybe she’s finally getting the hang of this.