Chapter Text
Telling myself I won't go there
Oh, but I know that I won't care
Tryna wash away all the blood I've spilt
Thorne had dreaded walking to the throne room that day, and dreaded it even more when he saw nobody else was there. What could be so important that he had to be summoned at 3 AM?
He bowed at the waist and straightened back up, daring to look at Belos' mask in its soulless black eyes. He knew Belos hated that- but everyone else bowed the same way, and he would not kneel to a tyrant only one step above his authority.
His reflective magenta eyes darted around the man on the throne, noting the dirty cloth in the Emperor’s arms, a stark contrast to the rest of his clean regalia. Thorne wrinkled his nose, forgetting he was not wearing his mask.
“You sent for me, Lord Belos.” Thorne confirmed in an attempt to start the interaction. He just wanted to finish sleeping back in his room pretending that he wasn’t on the brink of going insane. Basil had rejected Thorne’s offer to run away together, saying it was ‘for his own safety’ and they would ‘figure something out.’
Basil knew what he was.
The bundle of fabric in the Emperor’s arms wriggled around.
“My assumption that your parents were dead was mistaken…” Belos started. Thorne immediately blocked the rest of the words out, thinking back to his petty argument with his boyfriend earlier in the night. No point in listening to a lie- he knew he was a grimwalker.
“This is your brother, Hunter.”
Thorne’s eyes widened as he focused back in, looking back down at the wiggling bundle. He dared to walk forward to look into the dirty cloth, and Belos let him, handing the mass to him. Thorne held his breath as he saw a fussing newborn in his arms, whining with complaint.
“He’s hungry,” Thorne blurted before he could stop himself. He wasn’t even quite sure how he knew that.
“Well, he’s your responsibility. You will be in charge of his care and training.”
“ You’re his ‘uncl-“ Thorne started to snap, but stopped himself as a spike whizzed past him. “Apologies. I will take care of it,” He sighed, bowing again as he held the baby closer to his body.
It was odd at first. The Healing Coven took over everything for the infant like Thorne had ordered, waking up in the middle of the night to someone changing a baby was not the greatest experience in the world. He was far too busy to care for the baby himself, but it had been a little less than a week later when Hunter cried with a different tone. Thorne frowned, walking over to see the baby grabbing weakly for someone to hold him.
Thorne crossed his arms, eyes narrowing as he tried to decide what to do. He finally sighed, picking up the small child as gently as he could, bringing him to his shoulder and bouncing him about. The baby calmed, and Thorne couldn’t help but smile.
“Hi, Hunter.” The Golden Guard cooed. “I’m your big brother, Thorne.”
That morning, he immediately found every book on parenting in the royal library he could. Using information he had overheard from the nurses, he calculated Hunter's age and development, and started paying more attention to the kid. He started carrying Hunter around more often, smiling when he started to coo and vocalize.
Everything got better for Thorne, it seemed.
"Wabuhbah!"
"Is that so?" Thorne chuckled.
"Buh-buba," Hunter protested, tapping his little hands on the floor.
"You're good at this," The coven scout sitting on the bed chuckled.
Thorne looked up at Basil and tilted his head curiously. "You think so?"
Basil nodded. "I know so. You've got a good intuition with him."
"It's not anything I did, probably. Chances are it's just some grimwalker instinct." Thorne sighed. "I'm glad we didn't run away."
"I almost did burn my sigil, actually… the night of our argument. Someone came into the barracks before I could."
"I'm sorry for that," Thorne sighed. "I was… stressed. Scared."
"You don't seem as stressed anymore," Basil hummed, looking at the baby having 'Tummy Time' on the floor. "It's him, isn't it?"
Thorne nodded. "I think so. I've been happier since he was born," Thorne froze. "Or… grown."
"Are you going to tell him?" The green-haired witch asked. "About his species, I mean."
"I can't," Thorne sighed. "If he knows too much, it will put him in danger."
"Bah!"
"I know, right?" Thorne scoffed, rubbing the top of Hunter's head lovingly. "Your uncle is a bad man,"
Hunter fussed and rolled over onto his back.
"He's getting pretty mobile. What are you going to do with him when you're busy?"
"I'm keeping him with me when I'm not on missions." Thorne said seriously. "Whenever I'm out, the Healing Coven can look after him. But right now, I don't want him out of my sight if I can help it."
"You're very protective of him," Basil chuckled.
"This is a hostile environment for a child to grow up in," Thorne growled. "I should know. I just can't let him grow up scared."
Basil frowned as he looked at the baby sadly as Hunter continued to roll around. "Yeah…"
Thorne, however, smiled as he watched Hunter play.
"This kid is the best thing that's happened to me since meeting you…" Thorne whispered, making Basil blush. Thorne rubbed a gloved thumb across Hunter’s soft cheek, making the baby giggle.
“I’m… scared that something is going to happen to him.” Thorne admitted. “Belos is a cruel man. I… I can’t let him…” The guard choked up, hiding his mouth with his hand. Hunter cooed sadly and started to fuss again.
“Thorne…” Basil whispered.
Thorne ignored the scout, scooping Hunter into his arms. “Let’s… lets get you to bed, huh, little one?”
“Bleh!” Hunter protested.
Basil could tell that this change in Thorne’s life was mostly a good thing- Thorne loved the child and it was easy to tell. Yet, Basil could always tell whether or not his boyfriend was upset, and there was definitely something scaring him.
" I'm fine, Bas." Thorne sighed, as if he could real Basil's mind. He laid Hunter down in the bassinet and kneeled to be on the same level, smiling softly as he started to sing.
" Hush, little songbird, don't you cry.
it's time to sleep throughout the night.
The firebees have gone to bed,
Lay on your pillow, your sleepyhead.
Hush, little wolfdog, under the moon.
The stars are out and your bedtime's soon.
The firebees have gone to bed,
lay on your pillow, your sleepyhead ."
Basil smiled warmly despite his concerns at the sound of Thorne's soft singing voice. Some of the toys the Golden Guard had made for the little boy glowed with magenta light as they started to float above the surface they had been laying on.
The firebees have gone to bed…
Lay on your pillow, your sleepyhead…
The knick knacks lowered back to the floor as Hunter drifted slowly to sleep. Thorne watched him carefully- as if that if he looked away for a mere moment, Hunter would be gone. Basil chuckled as he rolled over to start drifting off to sleep, the last memory of the night being the feeling of Thorne crawling into the rickety bed and snuggling up next to him.
Besides, the Golden Guard had scheduled Scout Burrlow for night patrols all that week. Nobody would question his absence, even if it was the same every week. Nobody challenged the Golden Guard, after all.
When Basil woke up in the morning, Thorne was already awake- which was an uncommon occurrence. The plant witch always knew that if he could, his boyfriend would send an abomination adorned in golden uniform to replace him if it meant an extra hour of sleep. He couldn’t blame him- not with all the work Belos made him do.
But alas, there he was, wide awake as he bottle fed the small baby grimwalker in his arms. Hunter's ears- way too big for his small head- wiggled as he fed, making Thorne smile- a sight that was so rare these days.
***
" Hunter! "
The toddler giggled in amusement as he continued to run on wobbly legs down the hallway, seemingly uninterested in the shouts of his concerned older brother.
His newfound freedom quickly ended as a bubble of abomination matter rose up from the floor, enveloping the baby and plopping him back in Thorne’s arms.
“You can’t run away like that,” Thorne growled, hugging the baby grimwalker close to his body.
Hunter didn’t seem to mind the scolding, as he simply tapped Thorne’s face with a tiny hand. Thorne chuckled. “I can’t stay mad at you,” He smiled, adjusting his grip to hold the little boy more comfortably. “But this isn’t a safe place for kiddos like you, you know. Don’t scare me like that,”
Hunter gurgled, resting his forehead against Thorne’s shoulder. Thorne kissed the top of Hunter’s small head as he brought him back to their shared room.
The simple idea of someone taking his baby from him made his stomach churn.