Chapter Text
“Hunter, what in the Ti- what are you doing?”
The closest thing to this level of chaos Darius had seen was the Isles during the time it took to clean up debris, and the sole fact it was an arguably correct comparison threatened to give him a headache no warm tea could fix. The living room looked like a disaster zone with about five different fabric rolls spread around, a box of scattered pins that were a hazard to anyone unaware of their presence, many thread bobbins half unwinded and a single pincushion on the couch, holding three differently-sized needles.
To top off the scene, Hunter was laying down on the floor over about a meter worth of fabric, twisting his arm in an angle Darius would be concerned about if he did not know his kid’s motion range was… confusing.
After the initial shock had worn off, Darius realized he was holding what looked like chalk? Bar soap perhaps? Whatever it was, it was tracing an outline on the fabric in a tragically irregular shape Darius could only assume was Hunter’s, although the final accuracy looked like it could be questionable at best and catastrophic at worst.
“Darius!”
The boy practically jumped up at the sound of his voice, only stopping when a very visible wave of dizziness made him unsteady.
“Careful, you know it’s not good for you to stand up too fast,” Darius reminded him as he helped Hunter get himself up, lightly lifting his weight up in a half hug until he was safely back on his feet and no longer wobbly.
Almost as soon as it was evident his vision had cleared up, Hunter crouched back down again, making Darius chuckle lightly under his breath.
Hunter squirmed around to begin picking up the pins spread on the floor, making sure not to prick himself.
“Uh, I was… working on something.”
“Something?” Darius raised an eyebrow with curiosity. Although Hunter grimaced, surely trying to hide his embarrassment, it was no use as soon as his ears flushed furiously red.
“So you know how Gus invited me to a coventi- CONvention,” he corrected himself, “ in the Human Realm next month? He- uh- he suggested I should probably start working on my costume soon so I could add all the details I needed, and since according to Camila the suit I wanted is from an old version of Cosmic Frontier, she said it would be cheaper if I make it myself and uh, that’s what I was trying to do?”
If his red ears were not a dead giveaway of his nervousness, the amount of fidgeting he had going on sure was.
Darius raised a hand up to his face covering the lower half in endeared cringe. They sure had not had enough time for covering the full extent of everything sewing involved during their lessons, hadn’t they?
“Little Prince, I hate to break it to you, but I think I never had the chance to teach you proper pattern making.”
“Pattern what?”
“Since I only ever taught you to mend clothes and not make them from scratch- For making clothes, one starts with a pattern before cutting the fabric. That way, you can see what pieces you need, and it ensures that the fabric fits together properly, instead of cutting on the go and then adjusting each piece as you sew them together.”
Hunter’s face squirmed into an awkward grimace.
“I guess… that makes a lot of sense.”
“It’s okay, your method was very logical if I may say. From what I’ve seen, you had some pretty decent results, which is a good sign. Would you like me to teach you how to make a pattern so you don’t have to dislocate an arm in order to get an accurate measurement?”
“I’ve never dislocated anything for sewing! I’ve dislocated many of my limbs during missions and for no apparent reason, but never for sewing,” Hunter announced with a dramatically scandalized tone.
“Well, without having to dirty our fabric by putting it on the floor, and without having you lay on the cold. I don’t want you getting sick.”
“I’m not gonna get sick from laying on the floor!”
“The point about dirtying the fabric still stands. Besides, it will be a chance to continue our sewing lessons,” Darius added tentatively, suddenly unsure of whether it had been a good idea to put it like that.
“I guess… that would be nice,” Hunter replied with a softening voice and a small smile.
“Let me grab my sewing glasses and we will start, deal?”