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The postcard had given John Dory a new hope that his brothers were all alive out there somewhere. Now, he figured Spruce didn't want John Dory searching around for him. Otherwise, he'd have written more down on the card, or at least signed it. But the rest of the brothers? They could be out there somewhere.
Just because the Troll Tree had been empty and dying, didn't mean everyone had been eaten. They could have escaped. All of the trolls he'd grown up around could still be out there, hidden away from dangers. All he had to do was figure out how to find them. Which could possibly be too big an ask.
He'd asked around the other troll communities for any new troll villages popping up. He'd heard talk about a tribe of trolls leaving their old home suddenly and all at once. It was a great mystery, it seemed, where they ended up. None of the trolls he talked to seem to know where they'd have gone or why they'd even leave the tree they called home. Guess the annually being eaten by Bergens thing didn't spread around.
John Dory had searched tirelessly for months. He tried so hard. He couldn't give up! He already gave up on finding his brothers once. He'd already abandoned them once. He refused to make that same mistake again. He owed his brothers at least that much.
But he couldn't find anything. He'd traveled across the various troll kingdoms looking for answers. The only places left to look were a large chunk of forest and up in the mountains. The mountains had various different subgenres of trolls (and Angie Moonshine, if she meant it when she said she wanted to settle down up there), so he'd probably have heard about it if his brothers had made their way up there. If he wanted to venture into the forest, he'd need to gather more supplies. John Dory had no guarantee he'd find any trolls in there, or if they'd have any supplies to spare if they were in there.
It was while he was gathering some supplies that he ran into a familiar face. A single pair of hooved feet, yellowish-lime skin, rust-colored hair, and the same goofy mustache. "John Dory of the Neverglade Trail! Turquoise hair! Used to be in a band!"
John Dory looked up and gave a friendly smile. "Doc! Nice to see you!"
The folk troll approached and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You have been well, yes? I have been looking for you!"
"Oh, yeah? You've got some more mail for me?" John Dory really needed something else from his brothers. He was starting to run short on the much needed hope of finding them.
"Eehh... Of sorts." Doc hooked his arm around JD's. "Come now! I'll buy a drink for you? Not whiskey!" He said the last part with a bit of a laugh and a nudge into the other man's ribs.
John Dory laughed. "Yeah, sure. As long as you're paying."
Doc bought two bottles of cola sodapop. Completely alcohol free. That was fine, because John Dory didn't want to be drunk around this guy again. They found a decent log to sit on. John Dory kicked his feet out in front of him, taking a big swing of his cola. He thought he could remember Pop Troll sodapop tasting sweeter than this. Most of their foods tended to be. Maybe he could taste that intense sweetness again. Although after all these years, he worried it would overwhelm him.
"So, what kinda mail do you have for me?"
"Hmm." Doc hummed, swirling his soda bottle. "Not quite mail. More of a... message? News?"
"Oh, yeah?" John Dory felt nervous, but he tried not to show it. Was it more news from Spruce? News of his other brothers? "What kind?"
Doc tapped his chin with the lip of his soda bottle. "Well, there is... You know a woman, Angie Moonshine?"
John Dory did a double take. Okay, so it wasn't about any of his brothers. But it was about his ex-girlfriend? "Uuhhh, Yeah? We used to date. Traveled the trail together for a while, but then we kinda had to go our separate ways." He didn't need to go into detail about exactly why. He'd end up going into his brothers and the empty tree and he didn't need to think about that right now. "Why? You know her?"
"Ah! Lovely woman. Schöne." For a moment, a dreamy look came across Doc's face. John Dory furrowed his brows at that. Was... Was he about to ask for his blessing or something? But the dreamy look passed. "She has a child."
John Dory blinked. What? "Ah. Okay." He knocked back almost half of his sodapop, pretending it was a bottle of stronger, alcoholic stuff. "So... So I could probably guess this, but... why'd you come to tell me my ex-girlfriend has a kid?"
"I have photo!" Doc reached into his back pocket. John Dory tried not to let himself nervously tap on his sodapop bottle. The folk troll pulled on the photo and handed it over. "Here you go!"
And John Dory stared at the photo for a good long while. The kid in the photo, who he'd guess was somewhere from four and six, did look a lot like him. Like, a lot like him. So much that John Dory might have thought it was an old photo of himself, if not for the eyes and the fact that Angie was also in the photo. (Damn, she actually looked really good with her pale pink hair tied back like that.)
He suddenly realized he'd been silently staring at the photo for at least a solid minute. He could tell from the corner of his eye that Doc was carefully watching for his reaction. "Well," John Dory managed to make himself say, "It's a very cute kid, I've gotta say."
"Ja! I believe the parents' good looks have blended well!"
John Dory blinked, and his face went a little bit warm. "What, are you calling me good looking?"
"Ja! Sehr hübsch!"
He didn't know what those words meant, but they sounded like a compliment. He cleared his throat. "Well, I— Okay, so, I have a kid then?"
"Ja." Doc nodded his head. "Well, that's what Angie said."
"You know her well, then?"
"....Ja. Yes, I do." Doc hesitated.
John Dory didn't try to read into that. He was too busy trying to think of what the heck he should do with this information. He had a kid. A kid who'd been without their dad for the first few years of their life. Now, he knew himself well enough that he was a mess. He'd barely manage to be a good older brother if/when he found any of his younger brothers. Could he actually be even half a decent father? Would Angie ever even let himself around the kid?
But the last thing John Dory ever wanted to be was just like his own father. That man could barely even pretend to care for his own kids. He abandoned them after they lost their mother. John Dory didn't want to abandon his own kid just because he'd lost his brothers. He already had in the past few years. His only saving grace for that was the fact he didn't know.
But now he did know.
"Did Angie ask you to tell me, or did you decide to tell me yourself?" If Angie didn't know that he was being told, then John Dory couldn't just show up one day asking to see her kid.
"The kid asked me to! Angie approved it." Doc reached into his pockets once again. "I must give you this. If I don't, I shall never be forgiven."
Doc handed him a folded piece of paper. When John Dory unfolded it, it revealed a series of child's drawings that made his chest squeeze. They were various crayon drawings of him and this kid. Doc leaned over and pointed out some of the drawings. "Angie has many photos from the trail."
"Mm-hm."
"The little one likes learning about fish. See?" Doc pointed out the drawing of him and the kid surrounded by all kinds of fish.
"Yeah."
"And here— Ah! Friend, are you alright?"
John Dory sniffed. He could feel a gross, ugly cry trying to force it's way out, but he fought against it. "This is... my God..." A memory came to mind. Floyd had decided that Father's Day would be replaced with Big Brother's Day, and he'd roped Baby Branch into drawing a bunch of drawings of them with their older brothers. Back then, John Dory hid his teary eyes behind his goggles. Now, he brought his goggles down to do the same.
"I am keeping this forever and ever and ever." John Dory was too much of a sentimental bastard not to.
Doc nodded. "It's yours anyway."
Both men stood in comfortable silence. John Dory had some thoughts now. Angie and their kid were up in the Indie Mountains. That was right by the Neverglade Trail, which he could traverse with ease and speed no one else had. The next place he was going to look for any of his brothers was deep into the forest, which were strange and new and uncharted. John Dory, honestly, had so little hope of finding his little brothers out there alive. But his kid was alive and well.
John Dory didn't want to pick between different parts of his family. But... but could he really chase down his quickly fleeting hope and leave behind a child? Could he really abbandon his own kid, like his father did to him?
"I—" John Dory cleared his throat. "I don't suppose I could ask you about my chances of meeting the kid."
"Ah! I expect it will be much welcomed! Though I must ask Angie first."
"Of course. The last thing I'd want is to just show up out of the blue."
He and Doc made a bit of a plan. John Dory in the next week would spend a few days in the woods just outside of Angie's farmland. And then Doc would come to him if Angie had okayed him meeting their kid. He didn't mind being out in the woods. Rhonda was big enough to be his height now. It wouldn't be too much longer until he could actually fit inside her. Maybe the kid could fit in her, like a little clubhouse. He hoped the kid and Rhonda got along.
They probably would, since Angie's mainly a critter wrangler. Critters weren't unusual for the little one to be around. And Rhonda was very sweet and friendly. Honestly, it'd be more likely that Rhonda would get into trouble trying to play with the other critters on the farm. Yeah, okay, maybe it was a bad idea to have her this close to a critter farm. Maybe it was a bad idea to be here at all.
John Dory paced back and forth, Rhonda following close behind him as he went. Okay, he could maybe make the excuse to leave. He could turn back now, and it'd be like he was never here. But then he'd be running away from his own kid, just like fucking Tom. And the kid would be all upset if they got excited to meet their dad just from him to be all gone. And Angie would probably hunt him down and kick his ass if he did that.
He heard Doc's voice approaching. That meant it was too late to turn and leave now. But how could he even think of turning tail and running away? He needed to be better than that! He needed to change his way of thinking if he was planning to play any sort of role in his kid's life. But then, John Dory realizes that he could hear another voice talking back to Doc. A young-sounding voice. Oh God, he brought the kid out here. Oh God. Oh God.
John Dory frantically looked around. He dusted off his vest and straightened his goggles on his forehead. He also dusted off Rhonda, who cooed at the gesture. She probably thought she was getting pets for being a very good girl, following him around as he paced. He tried to take deep breaths. Okay, okay this was fine. This was fine! It's just the first impression he can make on his kid!
No pressure!
Some pressure.
A lot of pressure!
"Yoo-hoo! John Dory of the Neverglades!" John Dory hopped up to stand straighter. Doc cheerfully waved at him, kid sitting on his shoulders. The kid stared at John Dory. John Dory stared at the kid. "Ally oop!" Doc lifted up the kid over his head and put them down on their feet. The kid stood there, still staring up at him.
But something about the way the kid stands there, a slight bounce to their fists at their side. John Dory had seen that before on little brothers. Little brothers excited to show him something, or excited to see him after a show. But also nervous. The kid is excited and nervous to see him. The kid is happy to see him. This put John Dory at ease.
He smiled and lightly waved. The kid kept standing there. "Is..." They turn to look back at Doc. "Is a hug okay?"
"If I'm not the one you're thinking of huggin', I shouldn't be the one you're askin'!"
The kid turned back to John Dory. "Ah..."
John Dory wasn't about to make the kid ask, and he wasn't about to make himself speak to give an answer. He silently crouched down and opened his arms out for the kid. He didn't expect the kid to to straight up sprint at him. He certainly didn't expect to be hit with enough force to knock him back. "Oof!" Rhonda scrambled over and tried to get in to lick both of their faces. "Rhonda! Now's not the time!"
The kid giggled as Rhonda licked their face. "Silly critter!"
"That means she likes you!" John Dory shoved the armadillo back.
"Or marking her prey!" The kid said that with way too much enthusiasm. "It can be hard to tell!"
"Well, it's Rhonda! She's too sweet to eat any of us." John Dory lifted the kid up and put 'em down next to him. Then he pushed himself up. "She's carrying a lot of my gear and old boyband stuff."
"What's a boyband?"
"Oh, let me tell you all about that."