Chapter Text
Darius slowly opened the door to the Golden Guard's personal quarters. He had only been here a couple of times, but it was safe to say that when Lucas missed their lessons there were usually a few places he could be found. And he wasn't in his office so he might as well try it here.
He was in there, sitting on his bed with his face buried in his hands.
There was a crib set up in the middle of the room - there was no other place for it, the room was already small and cramped. Inside laid the castle's new surprise resident, the Golden Guard's not-son, not-brother, or not-relative. Nobody could decide which one it was and Lucas is not forthcoming on the matter. Despite that, the baby was seemingly his responsibility.
His name was Hunter and currently, he was sleeping, well, like a baby.
Darius took the liberty to let himself in.
"How's it going?" he asked with only the slightest hint of amusement.
"He is not sleeping," the Golden Guard, now with prominent dark circles under his eyes, said.
"Who's not sleeping?"
"Hunter."
Darius peered into the crib. He knew nothing about babies, but he looked very much asleep to him. "Are you alright?" he decided to ask.
"No," he groaned and flopped back onto the bed with his arms spread. "He is screaming his head off every single night, starting at nine, then at midnight sharp, and at four in the morning. You could match a clock to him."
"Babies are known for crying," Darius nodded sagely.
"As if you know anything," Lucas glared at him. "You try spending a night with him. I swear it's like his favorite thing or something."
Darius would argue that Hunter's favorite thing was the bottle of formula the scouts helpfully rushed to the aid with at every feeding hour.
"Come on, it can't be that bad."
"It is the worst."
Darius frowned. He knew how unhappy Lucas was with Hunter being here - and unhappy was putting it lightly. It wasn't a secret, or well, Lucas didn't bother hiding it from anyone. In turn, Hunter seemed to have picked up on his primary guardian's dislike of him and gave it back just as he received it. He seemed more content in the arms of a poor scout who got roped into babysitting duty than in the Golden Guard's, he even prefers Darius over him.
"Why don't you-"
"I swear to the Titan, Darius, if you give me advice I will throttle you," Lucas groaned from the bed but didn't get up. "Everybody is a genius when it comes to taking care of babies, but nobody has the spine to take over for one night. Cowards."
"You can always order them."
Lucas slowly rose. "Darius you are a genius."
He didn't want to admit that it was an offhand comment. He sent a silent apology to whoever has to deal with this later.