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Being an emperor wasn't easy, he had to juggle three unruly sons alongside foreign relations and mountains of paperwork. Between attending meetings upon meetings as well as nationwide celebrations he always found himself hard pressed for time.
Less personal time meant less time he could spend with his boys, less time with his boys meant they began to act up for attention and so forth. It was something of a vicious cycle once it kicked in, one he desperately tried to avoid.
It was the very reason he was working on paperwork so late, the sun long having set due to them being in the arctic. It was one of the few times all his children should be occupied and not vying for his attention.
Tommy was off with his palace friends, no doubt enjoying the winter festivities of the capital while in disguise while Techno had sequestered himself off to his room earlier in the afternoon, citing a headache and Wilbur as his reasons.
As much as he hated to say it, those two had almost become synonymous with each other. His oldest had always been a bit of a problem child, though it didn't make him love him any less. His dear Wilbur just took after him a bit too well is all. A foolhardy nature mixing as well as oil with water from the rashness of youth.
They'd been having problems lately, fights and arguments plaguing any room both entered. His son wasn't seeing sense and it was causing tension in the family. Tension in the family that made it hard for him to focus on his work, mind set on trying to help his son be reasonable for once in his life.
Given the fact that he still wasn't done with this paperwork, it was safe to say he wasn't making much progress on that front.
His sour mood only worsened at the sound of knocking against the spruce door of his office.
Soon after a rather anxious looking guard peeped his head through before entering the room and bowing low, making sure to not make eye contact as he silently waited to be addressed.
At least the man had some sense, he might just be able to keep his head if this interruption was actually worthwhile.“What is it? Make it quick” he snapped, pleased at the violent flinch it earned.
“T-the first prince is requesting to see you.”
“Tell him I don't have time for petty squabbles. He can pick a fight with one of his brothers if he's so bored.”
“I’m afraid he’s very insistent your highness. He’s rather… upset.”
Phil looked up from his desk, scowl already marring his face; A visit from his oldest these days always meant a fight. His boy seemed convinced that Phil would just accept his wretched toy into the family if they shouted at each other for long enough about it.
His son always forgets where he got his stubbornness from.
With a resigned sigh he puts his paperwork away, he could never work after arguing with him. It put him in too horrible of a mood to make reasonable decisions. Bad for politics.
Not that they wouldn't be able to handle any war levied their way, of course.
As he rose from his chair the guard seemed to get even more nervous, eyes staying glued to the ground from where they bowed. Phil clacked his talons against each other just to see him quiver a bit more as he rounded the desk. A healthy fear in his palace staff was always a good thing.
“Send him in” he ordered “and close the door behind you.”
With a nod quick enough to give himself whiplash, the guard turned heel and scurried back out the room. The office lapsed into silence as he prepared himself for another shouting match, he just hoped Wil wouldn’t slam his door on the way out.
He’s already had to replace the hinges once this month.
The silence that had filled the space was soon broken by the thumping of shoes against carpet alongside the sound of armour creaking from guards practically tossing themselves out of what had to be Wilburs warpath. Touching the prince, even by accident, was a death sentence on its own. Few were keen to earn it.
Soon enough Wilbur had burst into his office, slamming the door into his wall, not even wincing as it shook from the force of his shove.
“Oh dad, it's awful!” he cried as he threw himself into his arms “y-you have to fix this!”
That was enough to stun him for a moment. It had been… a while since Wilbur accepted any affection, let alone sought it out. It felt so natural to bundle him up more in his arms, shielding him away from the world under his feathers.
Wilbur was sobbing into his chest, hands clenched into the back of his robe. He was damaging the threading with his little claws but Phil couldn't find it in himself to care as he basked in the contact. His baby was back in his arms.
“I don’t- I don't know what I’m gonna do” he hiccuped “she left me!”
“Who left you, kit?”
“Sally! She-” he gasped, torn between crying and explaining what happened “she broke up with me!”
“Oh” he whispered “oh that's-” wonderful. It was wonderful!
“Awful I know!” Wilbur wailed “I have to- I don't know- win her back or something!”
“Oh no, no my dear” he said, tightening his wings around him “you can’t be doing that.”
“No? Why not?”
“Because-” was he really doing this? Was he really going to do this just so he could keep his baby close to him?
“Because what?” his Wil looked up at him with wide brown eyes, the mahogany orbs so sad and trusting. His voice was shaking, weakened by his crying, sniffles escaping him on every breath. He made his decision.
It wasn’t a hard one.
“Because she never loved you my dear” he hummed, forcing a sad tone on his voice “everyone else could see it. I tried telling you.”
“You always hated her” his boy muttered bitterly, pressing closer into his robes.
“I did, I saw that she just loved your title. Not you. ”
“Bu-but she said-”
“She said a lot of things, it's a shame that she meant so little of it.”
He had to nip that kind of thinking in the bud. There was no use letting her sink her little claws back into his baby again. Soon his fingers began threading through Wilburs curls, a thing that never failed to soothe him or his twin. If only he was as obedient as Techno.
It'd be much easier to keep track of him if he was.
“She told me she loved me dad- that had to have meant something!”
“Other people, people like her” he started “can't love you like I do.”
He tried not to let his heart break at the little whimper his son let out, pathetic little sniffles escaping him as he tried to bury his head into his chest. He held his boy tighter, arms forming a cage to try and stop anyone from ever trying to take him away again.
As if they’d ever get past his wings in the first place.
“I love you unconditionally my dear. I’ll love you no matter what you do, until the sun burns out” he spoke soothingly, letting love drip off of every word. “No one else will love you the way I do. Everyone but me and your brothers just pretend.”
“Why? Why pretend to love me?” His boy asked, voice sounding impossibly young. The sound only hardened his resolve, what he was doing wasn't wrong, he was just protecting his kid from more heartbreak. It's what any good parent would do.
“They have too much to gain from loving you” he hummed “titles, land, power, fame, all of it. Our love is a powerful thing kit, it's why we have to stay so close knit.”
He pulled them both down to the floor, settling himself on the plush rug under his desk as Wilbur practically crawled into his lap, chasing his hold and trying to bury himself in it as much as he could.
Covering him again with his wings worked to settle him more, outright sobs smoothing into sniffles and hiccups, hands never releasing their deathgrip on his clothing despite the tears drying down his cheeks.
He was more than happy to wipe them away with his thumb, smoothing his hands over his boy's face as he crooned in response to all the little sounds that left him.
Aside from the rustling of his feathers and the sounds they made to each other, the office fell quiet again.
He didn't even try to fight down the smug satisfaction blooming in his chest at having his kit all to himself again, at having him come running to his arms for comfort. He sent a little questioning noise down to his son as he felt his hands tighten in the back of his robe, a small tearing sound echoing alongside it.
“I want her gone” Wilbur spat bitterly, voice cracking as his grief madeway for self righteous anger “make her go away dad. I never want to see her again.”
He cooed and bit down the grin that tried to paint itself across his face, making sure to start combing his fingers through his boy's hair again as he spoke “she’ll never bother you again, kit” he purred. “If that's what you want then it’ll be done. I’ll get rid of her.”
He knew his son didnt know what he was really asking for, Wilbur was spiteful but not enough to demand the death of a girl who'd broken his heart. Not yet at least.
But it was his job as a father to step in and make decisions when his babies needed him to; this was simply one of those times. Why should a girl who couldn't see his son's true value be able to just hurt him and leave?
Sure he’d been hoping it'd happen but that gave her no excuse, no right to hurt his kit like this.
No, he had to step in and make sure justice would be dealt.
Techno had been wanting an excuse to get out of the castle anyway, he’s sure his boy wouldn't mind hunting the little fool. Idly playing with his kit's hair, he wondered what bone his other son would bring back as a prize.
Maybe her jaw, she always did love to run her mouth around them.
Wilbur seemed to be settling at his confirmation, quietly sniffling and clinging to his robes once more. They were no doubt horribly creased now, if not ruined by his claws. Not that it mattered though, his boy was far more important than some silly silk.
His momentary anger was washed away again to make space for sadness, something he knew would become common as his kit healed from the wound she gave him. Warning his brothers of the potential mood swings could save him more than a couple of headaches down the line.
“You’re alright, Wil” he cooed “you won’t feel good for a while, your heart will need time to heal, but I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”
Wide eyes looked back up at him, betraying his age in an instant. The son in front of him looked so young wrapped up in his feathers that he couldn't stop himself from chirping and cooing at his fledgeling; preening at how he melted into his arms at the sound.
He couldn't help but hark back to the days where his boy was just a wide eyed kit, eagerly taking his hand at the promise of seeing the emperor's horses. The cub had gotten so swept up in petting them that he never even noticed his old parents looking for him.
Luckily he was more than happy to swoop in and take care of Wilbur in their stead.
“Really? Even after all the fights?”
“Of course, songbird. Such silly things could never get you away from me.”
“Honestly?”
“All the armies in the world couldn't take you away from my arms, kit” he cooed “you and your brothers are mine until everything becomes dust.”
“And after that?” Wilbur sniffled, still looking up at him with such trust. If he were a better man then maybe he’d feel bad for doing this, for ruining his boy's trust in anyone outside of his flock, but he wasn't.
There wasn’t even a scrap of guilt in him as he looked back at his son, only a greedy kind of love that sought to keep him by his side until the stars burned out.
“You’d still be mine” he pressed a kiss to his hairline “I’ll never let you go.”
A deep, satisfied coo left him as his son snuggled back into him again, completely trusting in his words and seeking out even more love from his hold. He was more than happy to provide his boy with all he needed.
Later he’d have to get his son to the nest, hot cocoa in hand to comfort the inevitable tears that would start to flow. He’d wrap his baby up in his wings and shield him away from the world, letting him soak up adoring words and love until his cries fizzled out and he fell into sleep.
He’d have to explain it all to his other sons, telling Techno the task of his new hunt and having Tommy distract and occupy Wilbur from anything that could remind him of her. Together, as a family, they’d help his kit heal and grow stronger than before.
But that was all in the future, hours ahead of him, for now he’d just hold his son in his arms and let him feel whatever emotions he had to. The tears, the rage, the begging, he’d help him through all of it and make sure he knew where he belonged all the while.
It's what any good father would do, after all.