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The schedule John Dory had for visiting the Moonshine Family Farm was to come on one or two weekends out of the month and special occasions. If he stayed in one place for too long, he'd get restless and anxious. You're going to ruin it, his mind would convince him. You ruin everything. You ruin families. You're cursed to have the people you love fall apart. Leaving for the trails again was the best way he knew to keep that away.
Coming on weekends meant John Dory just had to stay either on the property or near it for a couple of nights, and he didn't interrupt any school time with his visit. And his time away and on the trails was supplemented with either the kid coming to visit him in the woods or plenty of letters between himself and his kid. As soon as he received and read a letter, he'd start thinking of a reply to write. John Dory held on to every single one of the letters.
He was turning into a bit of a sentimental hoarder like that.
At the moment, John Dory was looking for any particularly interesting rock to give to the kid. The kid has liked cool rocks since he first met them. He just had to find a cool one that didn't look too much like one the kid already had. Streams usually had nice ones. One of these days he was going to have to make his way back to the coast. See if he could find an ocean stone or some sea glass. The east coast was relatively close by, but he would probably still check-in to see if anything was coming up with the kid.
John Dory spotted a glint in the stream, pulling him from his thoughts. "Ha! There!" He picked up his prize from a place nestled between two regular gray stones. He could close his hand comfortably around it. He held it up to the light. It had a silvery-bluish look to it, but there was this rainbow shine to it if he angled it right.
"Now, there's a find! The kid'll love this!" He tucked the stone into his vest, and made his way back to Rhonda. If he was away for too long, she'd start making her way to him.
Rhonda knew well the way to the Moonshine Family Farm. The fact that he could fit inside of her cabin now just meant that John Dory could step away from the steering wheel once they got to a familiar part of the woods. She started a brisk little trot, heading right to where the old garage was near the main house. When they visited the farm, Rhonda got to get cozy in that garage, eat some of the best food treats, and play with some of the larger critters on the farm.
"You ready to get nice and spoiled, girl?" he rubbed the dashboard, and Rhonda cooed.
The real trick here was making sure she didn't completely bypass the kid or anyone less coming out to greet the both of them. John Dory was still getting the hang of driving a critter. "Now, hold on. Hold on, girl!" He pulled on the wheel, which he understood was the brakes. She slid to a stop right in front of the garage. John Dory sighed. "Rhonda, we still need to ask for you to be in the garage." The armadillo bus couldn't give a single care in the world about what he was saying to her.
John Dory stepped out and stretched. Doc knew he was coming, and he assumed Angie would know, too. So any moment now, someone would—
"Dad!" The kid came running, or maybe rather sprinting towards him. John Dory took his stance, fully prepared for the kid to jump at him. He caught the kid and spun around with them, both of them laughing.
"Woah! You're getting heavy! Have you been eating rocks?"
"You can't eat rocks!"
"Really? Are you sure? They look so tasty!" He put his kid back down.
"Dad! Don't eat rocks! They hurt your teeth!"
"But they're so yummy!"
"Nooooo!" The kid smacked his vest repeatedly. "Your teeth! Think of your teeth!"
John Dory laughed. "Okay! Okay! Ouch! Hey, I've get rough things in my pocket right now! Let's be careful!"
The kid stood back and stomped a foot. "You gotta not eat rocks!"
"Alright. I won't eat rocks."
The kid squinted at him. "You gotta promise it."
John Dory dropped down to a knee to be closer "I, Johnathan Dorian of the Neverglade Trail, solemnly promise not to eat any rocks. Not even..." He took the opportunity to pull the rock he found out from his vest. "... This one."
The kid gasped. They snatched up the rock and squealed. "It's a cool rock!" They all but screeched. John Dory actually winced just a little bit at the volume. They turned back towards the house. "PA! LOOK AT THE COOL ROCK!"
Doc, who John Dory just now realized was on the porch, smiled and gave a thumbs up. John Dory smiled and waved at him, because, well, because it was Doc. Doc waved back at him. That just felt real nice, didn't it?
The kid turned back to their father. "Dad, do you know the name of this rock? If you reeeeeeaaaaaaaally look at it, you can guess it."
John Dory stared down at the rock in his kid's hands. Oh man, he didn't really know much about rocks. He just knew that if he found a colorful one, the kid would get all excited and start going on about the kind of rock it was. "I think... its name is Quillion."
The kid frowned. "What? No! That's not a kind of rock!"
"You asked me what its name was! I think this rock's name is Quillion!"
"That's not a name!" The kid stomped their foot. "You're goofin'! You know it's a moonstone!"
"A moonstone, huh?" John Dory looked at the round stone in his kid's hands. The way it was smooth, and the almost glow it had. "Is it because it looks like the moon?"
"Uh-huh!" The kid nodded. "Some people say that they soak up moonlight, and that makes them even shinier."
"Is that so?"
"And— And moonlight can make nightmares go away. It's good for dreams and stuff! You just stick it under your pillow!"
"Well, sounds like I lucked out finding a rock like that!"
"Yeah. It's a good rock!" The kid tucked the rock in a pocket of their overalls. "Oh! And— And-and I found a fish name!"
"You did?" John Dory's knee was starting to get sore from still kneeling like this. But he was not gonna stand up now. His kid found a new name for themself, and he was gonna stay at the kid's level for that.
"It's another name for a fish, so you wouldn't know what fish I'm naming myself after." The kid rocked back and forth on their feet. They've got that excited and anxious energy.
"Excuse you, I know lots about nature! Try me!"
The kid tapped their fingertips together. They gestured for him to lean in closer so they could whisper. John Dory complied. "There's a fish that's also called Peter's Fish," the kid whispered in the loud way young kids tended to whisper. "But that name is too long."
"Oooh!" John Dory nodded. "Well, I have no idea what kind of fish that is, Pete."
Pete giggled and giddily waved their hands. "Oh! Oh, I haven't told Mama yet, because she's helping Uncle Alfie with a critter that got loose in the crops!"
"Oh! That means I know your name before your mother?" John Dory leaned in to do the same loud whisper that his kid had done. "Does your Pa know yet?"
Pete just stood there swinging their arms. "Maybe."
"Well, I say that's a good thing! Because then I get to call you Pete all I want before your mother gets back!" He stood up and lifted the kid up to spin them around. "Pete! Pete! Sweet Pete! Petey Pie! Sweetie Petey Honey Pie!"
Pete laughed. "Daaaaaad!"
"What? Don't I get to give you a bunch of silly nicknames?" John Dory flipped them around. Now he was holding them upside down. They laughed and laughed. John Dory spun them around one more time before putting the kid down. He huffed. "Man, I forgot for a second that you're getting heavy."
"But not because I eat rocks!" Pete got up and dusted themself off. "Why's Rhonda not in the garage yet?"
"Because it's rude for her to just get in there like she owns the place! We gotta ask first!"
"Well, I live here! I say it's okay!" Before John Dory could stop them, the kid walked up to the front of Rhonda and directed her into the garage. "Go on, Rhonda! Go in! Go in!"
The older troll looked back to Doc on the porch, silently asking if this was alright. Doc waved off that it was fine. Still he stood up from the porch. "Oh, Mäuschen! Remember you had things to show?"
"Oh! Oh, yeah! Yeah, Dad! I went to the second-hand market with Mama, and I found some cool stuff!" Pete ran up and grabbed John Dory's hand, bouncing on their feet. "I gotta show you! You'll like it! It's old stuff!"
John Dory snorted. "So, old stuff makes you think of me?"
"This one did! C'mon! C'mon!" Pete tugged at his arm. John Dory laughed and let his kid pull him back to the house.
When this "old stuff" is pulled out, John Dory could understand why his kid thought he'd like it. It was a Brozone poster. One from before Branch was even born. "Wow, that is old!" He sat down on the floor next to the kid, so they could have the poster flat on the floor to look at.
Pete pointed out a younger John Dory. "That one's you! Those are your googles! Buuuuut the hair is turquoise. Your hair is teal. "
Well those are some big colors words for a little kid. "My hair used to look like that when I was little."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Sometimes hair gets darker as you get older." Though maybe the printing process and the aging of the poster was making it look more light and vibrant than John Dory thought it was. "Hey, do you think you can point out which of your uncles on here are which?"
"Uh-huh! You've shown me photos aaaaaallllllll the time!"
"Then go on! Show them to me!"
"That one's Spruce, cuz he's purple and doing the weird 'hearthrob' face!" Spruce was also crossing his arms as a way to subtly hold his jacket more closed. He was still shy about having an exposed chest back then.
"That one's Clay, cuz he's yellow and he looks like he's doing a silly dance." Clay was making a silly face, too. Classic Clay, didn't care about 'looking good for the camera.'
"And that's gotta be Floyd cus he's pink, but he don't got the earring." Pete looked to their dad for answers. "Where's his earring?"
"He didn't have one yet!" John Dory smiled fondly, remembering the day he came home to find that someone had pierced Floyd's ear.
"Oh. But where's Bitty B?"
"He wasn't born yet, bud!" It was nice to see such an old poster. John Dory didn't even have a poster this old. It was from before the band started getting big, so posters that old were hard to find. Floyd looked like he was still a toddler! "Hey, did you know your Uncle Spruce was a bit like you?"
Pete blinked up at him. "Like me?"
"Yeah." John Dory thought of a good way to explain this to a kid. How did they explain this to Clay, again? "When he was little, we all used to think he was a girl, even him. But he really didn't like it when people called him a girl. And he figured out that it was because he was a boy. So he got a new name, and he's been a boy ever since."
Pete beamed up at him. "I get to be a boy?"
"Of course! If that's what feels right to you!"
Pete squealed and kicked his feet in front of him. "FUCK YEAH!"
"Whoa! Language!" Instinctively, John Dory put a hand over his kid's— his son's mouth. Pete responded by licking it. "Ew!" But John Dory was laughing about it. His kid was giggling like crazy about it, so how could he not laugh? Pete hopped up and scurried over to Doc.
"Pa! Did you hear that? I get to be a boy!"
"Ja!" Doc crouched down and pinched the kid's cheek. Pete giggled. "I bet you're going to be the sweetest little boy."
"I can't be too sweet! Things won't be fun enough!"
And that happened to have been the moment Angie walked. "Hey! What's wrong with being sweet?"
"Mama!" Pete exclaimed and hurried over and hugged his mother. "Mama, my name is Pete and I'm a boy!"
"Oh, tight!" Angie rustled Pete's hair. "Wait, does this make me one of those Boy Moms? Nah, I'm good. Good job, Pete!"
Pete beamed. "And I tidied up in my room! All on my own!"
"Really? Good job!"
John Dory smiled at the sight. Then he looked back to the old Brozone poster. He wistfully thought back to his own younger brother, picking his own new name.
"It... It should be a nature name, right? Mom gave us all nature names."
"Heck yeah! Like another tree name? Or did you wanna just move completely away from that?"
"I think... There are plenty of kinds of trees that sound like boys."
"Yeah! Like... Oak... Pine..."
"...Spruce?"
"Spruce. Spruce! Spruuuuuuuuuuce. Yeah! That works!"
"Dad." Pete mashed his fingers into John Dory's cheek.
"Hey!"
"What's that face?"
"Nothing's wrong with my face!" He gently pulled his son's hand away from his face. "I'm just... remembering things. Thinking about my brothers. I think they'd love to know their nephew!" He went to tickle the kid.
Pete squealed and jumped back. "Hey!"
John Dory wiggled his fingers. "Uh-oh! It looks like the tickle monster has been unleashed!"
"Ah!" Pete giggled and ran off. John Dory playfully chased after him. "You can't catch me, tickle monster! I'm too fast! I've got rad skills!" Pete jumped up and swung his arms around like he was pretending to do a flip.
They both laughed as they played that little game of chase. Doc and Angie laughed a bit, too, smiling fondly at the two having fun. They both had nice smiles, so John Dory liked to see that. After they were done playing, John Dory would help Pete hang the poster on the inside of his closet door. And he'd join for dinner before going to spend the night in Rhonda. John Dory didn't sleep in their house unless it was offered.
There were a few hand-me-downs John Dory still held on to, as well as some old Brozone merch that Pete could be interested in.