Chapter Text
Dim sunlight filtered through the one window in the living room, a tiny figure trying to avoid them, their footsteps feather light as they observed their target, the man in the middle of the room.
He was mostly hidden under the duvet, with bits and pieces of long black hair peeking out onto his pillow. What little of his face the figure could see, it was calm and peaceful, deep in sleep. The figure striked.
“Up’emattem Mister!” a tiny, feminine voice shouted rushing to the man’s bed, jumping onto the small free space next to him. The man lightly groaned at the noise before yelping at the sudden jolt.
“Ah! I’m up I’m up! Where’s the fire?” The man sat straight up, random bits of his hair falling into his face.
“No fire, school!” the young girl was practically bouncing in her spot before she moved closer to the man, smooshing his cheeks in her tiny hands, “You remember right? The doctor said I could go today!”
The man chuckled, muffled by the tiny hands he was removing, “Yes yes I remember sweetheart, you couldn’t talk about anything else that whole day.” Starting to wake up, the man was able to get a once-over of the girl, “You’ve already dressed yourself?”
“Yeah! I’ve been ready foreverrrrrr!”
“Somehow I doubt that,” He ran a much larger hand through her hair, “Your hair’s a mess Vivi.”
She pouted, “You know I can’t braid it like you Daddy! I was waiting for you to get up!”
He gave the girl a small smile as he kept combing through her hair with his fingers, using his free hand to rub the sleep from his eyes, “What time is it?” he asked before letting out a suppressed yawn.
“5:30! Oh, and good morning Daddy!” Vivi added seemingly as an afterthought, quickly pecking the man’s cheek as he sighed.
“Couldn’t fall asleep? And good morning sweetheart.” he added, pecking the top of her head.
“How could I sleep?”
“Pretty easily if you ask me, you lay down and you close your eyes.”
“But you’re old, of course you sleep easily!”
“I’m not even thirty thank you very much!” The man could feel himself getting more and more awake, a talent the tiny one in front of him seemed to have.
“You’re double digits Daddy, that’s old to me.” she barely poked her tongue out.
He peeked his own tongue out, “You’re about to be double digits young lady.”
“That’s still two years from now, Two Years!” She raised her arms in emphasis.
“Oh, it’ll pass by quicker than you think sweetheart, and before you know it you’ll be an old man like meeeee. ” Vax leaned over, encasing Vivi’s tiny form with his much larger one. He muffled her screams and laughter.
“You’re such a weirdo!” the muffled shout made him bubble with laughter, rocking the two back and forth, “We need to get up!!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll try and get these old bones of mine to work,” Vax let go of her to stretch out his back, various places popping here and there, “Think you can wait a few minutes while I get ready? Then I’ll do your hair.” With a nod, Vivi leaned back, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. Another yawn before Vax was finally up, a small shiver running down him as his feet hit the cool floor. Minutes passed by as Vax managed to clean himself up and get dressed in his work clothes, “You ready Vivi?” he asked pulling his hair up and no sooner had the question left his lips there she was right in front of her, “I’ll take that as a yes then. Hold still,” he requested before placing another hair tie in his mouth and grabbing the comb. It only took Vax a few minutes to comb out the knots in Vivi’s hair and properly braid it, “And done.”
With a little squeal, Vivi gave him a quick hug and a “Thank you Daddy!” before rushing out of the bathroom.
~~~
“Percyyyyy, Percy, PERCY!” A voice rang out, grating at Percy’s ears and half-awake mind. With a groan he opened his eyes, copper locks blocking his vision.
“Good morning to you too Keyleth.” he responded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He sat up on the makeshift bed (honestly it was just three undone sleeping bags and a rather large pile of pillows) and felt around the nearby coffee table for his glasses.
“Good morning~” Keyleth greeted, “Sleep well?”
Percy was able to find his glasses at last and gave a once over at Keyleth, finding that she was already dressed minus her shoes, “Yeah, bit hard not too with your persistence and this last minute sleep-over.” He ran a hand through his hair, a yawn breaking free.
Keyleth giggled, “It worked though, how you feeling about today?”
“Like I want to curl up into a corner and cry or possibly puke, maybe both….”
“But,” Keyleth held out her hand, pointing a finger at him, “Are you tired?”
Percy thought about it for a moment, lifting his head so that he was looking at the ceiling, “Not…..terribly so?”
“Then it worked!”
He lowered his head to glare at her for a moment, only to sigh instead, “I guess it did, thank you Keyleth.”
“What are friends for?” She got to her feet. Percy held out a hand for her to grab, lifting him up.
“Alright, give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready myself.” he went up the stairs, still rubbing the small crook in his neck when he reached the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, getting the small compact of concealer and dabbing his fingers with it. Staring back into the mirror, Percy looked over the ink covering his body before he started to rub the concealer onto his arms, names and symbols disappearing, blending in with his own skin as he continued to rub the cooling cream. It was a few moments before Percy looked into the mirror again, seeing his upper body now bare, like a fresh canvas ready for use, at least for the most part. His body tensed at the wisps of smoke slowly encasing his free arm, his breathing becoming more shaky.
“You finished?” he heard a yell from downstairs, Keyleth’s voice seeming to make the smoke quiver a little.
“Almost!” With a deep breath, Percy closed his eyes, opening them to show the smoke gone, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. He finished up his business in the bathroom and dressed in the clothes he (Keyleth) had set out the night before; a simple button up, slacks, and a grey waistcoat (that he had picked out himself, and spent nearly an hour of last night arguing with Keyleth over it.)
“I’m on my way!” Percy finally responded walking down the stairs, the foot of which Keyleth was waiting for him on, bags in hand.
“I figured small breakfast, filling lunch?” she offered him a muffin as he took his briefcase from her, along with a brown paper bag she handed him and tucked it under his arm to grab the muffin.
“Sounds lovely. You have everything?” he asked biting into the muffin, the blueberry flavor attacking his taste buds, “You make these?” came the muffled question.
Keyleth nodded, opening the front door “I’m amazed that I could even make them, I was afraid your stove wouldn’t work from disuse.”
“Are you seriously making a jab at someone offering you a ride?”
The car beeped with the press of a button. Percy opened the backdoor, carefully putting his briefcase and lunch bag into the seat. He kept the door open, allowing Keyleth to do the same with her satchel and bag, and closed it.
“You know what I mean Percy.” She responded as she tried to grab at the handle, only for it to not move. Keyleth looked over to Percy, a smug expression on his face, “Really?”
“I’ll happily unlock it once I hear you say it.”
“I’m so sorry you’re incapable of cooking for yourself.”
“I’d argue that but we’re are running a tad bit late.” Another beep and they opened their respective doors and got in.
“Reheating takeout is not considered cooking, sorry to break it to you.” Keyleth giggled as they snapped their seatbelts into place. Once Percy turned the ignition, the car roared to life, as did the speakers with a tune Keyleth was all too familiar with, “Oh my God Percy, I’m not listening to-”
“You did not let me listen to anything last night! My car, my rules!” Percy interrupted her, slowly backing out of the driveway, “Besides, I thought you liked Hamilton? ”
“No I don’t….”
“I love you to pieces but that is bullshit,” Percy chuckled as he slowly made his way out to the main road, “I have seen you try and rap Guns and Ships , you need practice…”
“Fuck you Percy.”
“Get it all out now, because until three o’clock, ‘What the fuck is fuck?’”
The snort that came out of Keyleth, to Percy at least, perfectly accompanied the music blasting from the speakers. He stayed silent, letting her calm down and the music flow through them as he drove.
It wasn’t a long drive, as the school was only a few miles away from Percy’s house. He pulled into the parking lot at a spot reserved for staff. Even after Percy took his keys out of the ignition, the two stayed in their seats for a moment, enjoying the comfortable silence between them.
“You ready?” Keyleth asked, placing a hand over Percy’s, which was still on the steering wheel.
He gave her a small smile before moving his own hand, holding hers with it, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
~~~
On the other side of the same building, another car was pulling into another parking lot. Vax took the keys out of the the ignition before looking at his passenger. One thing that concerned Vax was how oddly….still Vivian looked. Just a moment ago she was bouncing in her seat, talking his ear off about today. But now, she was uncharacteristically quiet and still, only staring out at a group of children walking through the door.
“Sweetheart, everything alright?” Vax asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
It seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she was in, as she turned to look at him, “Um, yeah…” she mumbled, playing with the strap of her backpack.
“I’m finding that hard to believe,” The smile he gave her tried to be encouraging, but still held a tinge of sadness, “You nervous?” she nodded weakly in response.
“What if no one likes me…” she continued to mumble and Vax had to strain to hear her.
“Not like you? Vivi they’ll love you!”
“But what if they don’t?” The look of worry over her face nearly broke Vax’s heart.
“Then they’re not worth your time.” He took his finger, gently booping her nose.
“Okay…” she giggled.
“You got your inhaler?”
“Ye!” She pointed at a pouch on her backpack.
“Your shot?”
“Ye!” She pointed to another pouch.
“And when are you suppose to use it?” Vax raised an eyebrow at her thinking expression.
“When my face feels funny and I can’t breathe.”
“That’s my girl!” he praised her as he pulled her into a quick hug, “Have a good day sweetheart.” He pecked the top of her head, earning another giggle.
“I will!” she shouted as she got out and rushed to the front door, giving him a small wave before walking in.
He waved back, smile faltering only when she was out of sight. Vax sighed as he relaxed into his seat for a moment.
“Don’t worry Vax. Don’t worry…” he chanted to himself as he turned the car back on, the roar of the engine drowning out his heavy breathing.
~~~
“Keyleth…..there’s so many of them.” Percy gripped onto her shoulder, watching the children file in from the end of the hallway.
“I know, exciting isn’t it?”
“I was thinking more nerve-wracking…..but exciting works too…” a smile twitched from his mouth as he loosened his grip, “Best of luck to you.”
She turned to him, giving him a quick hug, “You too Percy, they’re gonna love you!” she turned away, heading to a room farther down the hall, with Percy following, stopping at a door before hers.
Right before he grabbed at the handle, another wisp of smoke fell from his fingertips, gripping the handle for him. He took a long deep breath before grabbing the handle himself.
“Not today…” he whispered to himself as he entered the room.
~~~
Vivian stopped at the front door, staring through the clear glass. Inside there were children of various ages gathered in the cafeteria, most of them chatting animatedly with one another as they were being filtered by the staff to somewhere Vivi could not see. She felt herself freeze up again, trying to remember the words her father told her only moments ago. It seemed to help as she felt her body ease up.
“Don’t worry Vivi. Don’t worry….” she chanted to herself, finally opening the door into the building. Almost as soon as she walked into the door, there was a woman with a clipboard behind a makeshift table.
“Hello!” the woman chirped.
Vivi yelped in surprise, “Uh, hello!” she chirped back. Despite the initial shock, the woman was very helpful in pointing Vivi to the room she needed to go to.
She quietly walked down the hallway, still playing with the straps of her bag as she finally made it to the door the woman directed her to. With another deep breath, Vivi opened the door, only to be greeted with more excited chatter. In front there sat a man behind the desk, looking over some papers, though he immediately looked up at the sound of Vivi’s entrance, the small smile on his face turning into a rather large grin.
“Welcome!” he exclaimed raising from his desk and meeting Vivi at the door. He gave a quick once over to the classroom, “I believe you’re the last one, okay class time to settle down!” he went from Vivi to the rest of the class in only a moment, then back to Vivi, “There’s an empty right over here you can sit down after you put your things away.” he lead her to an empty chair in the front row. With a small nod, Vivi carefully placed her bag into the small lockers in the back of the room before taking her seat.
When Vivian was settled down, the man stood at the front of the room, took a piece of chalk, and started writing on the blackboard behind him. In only seconds the once blank board now had a name written in flowly script;
Mr. de Rolo
“Good Morning everyone!” The man clapped his hands together and the excitement was radiating from his face, “As you can gather from the board, I’m Mr. de Rolo and I must say it is a pleasure to meet all of you!”
Mr. de Rolo’s energy seemed to be contagious as the class started giggling. Vivi herself even felt the nerve from just a moment ago vanishing.
“Alright, let's get started with attendance then shall we? And if you go by a nickname, please let me know,” He grabbed a clipboard on his desk and started calling off names, an occasional ‘Here’ joining in, “Vivian Syngorn?” he called out after a few moments.
Vivi raised her hand from the front row, “Here!” she shouted back. He nodded to her and marked her down.
~~~
“Isn’t today Vivi’s first day?” Sherri asked, filing another record into the box, nimble lithe fingers sifting through the different vinyl. The store was going through its usual afternoon slump, as there was no one other than Vax and Sherri for the moment.
Vax looked from the counter, an eyebrow raised on his bored looking face, “Yeah, yeah it is…”
“Huh, must be tough,” She commented as she shifted through the remaining records in the box next to her, “What with Vivi being at home all the time, now you’ll barely get to see her.”
“You are so comforting Sherri, you’d make an excellent mother.”
“Hah, you’re assuming I want them, adorable.”
“What’s adorable is I’m assuming you could get laid.”
“You’re assuming I want to get laid…..and you kiss your daughter with that mouth?”
The comments were sharp, but the smirk on their faces took the edge off. This was a daily thing for the two of them, a song they’ve sang so many times before.
“Yes yes I do.” Vax stuck his tongue out as Sherri rolled her eyes.
“Seriously though, isn't there this…..thing parents go through during this time?? Something to do with birds I don’t fucking know?” she asked exasperated, her head down as she waved her free hand around.
“Empty nest syndrome?” Vax chuckled out the answer.
Sherri snapped her fingers before pointing to Vax, “Bingo!” she exclaimed as she placed the record in her hand into another box, “Yeah, how’s that coming along?”
Vax’s chuckling stopped, a sigh taking its place, “It's…...it's different I guess? I mean I’m at work so it's not like I feel it right now…”
“Buttttt?”
Vax sighed again as he placed his head on the counter, “But man did I want to fucking cry this morning……” he quietly confessed, “Seeing her walk through that door.”
“Wow…..um…...I’m sorry about that?” Sherri mumbled, looking away at the box of records once more.
“I’m just,” Vax lifted his head, facing the front door, “I’m just more worried about her really. She’s never been around anyone her age.”
“Well, maybe she’ll make some friends? I’m not great at this comforting thing..”
“I can tell.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re listening and not calling me an asshole, you’ve met and exceeded my low expectations of you Sherri.” Vax turned to her, giving his trademark cheeky grin.
“You do know I could decapitate you with one of these, right asshole?” Sherri fanned herself with the record in her hand.
“Huh, then you’d would just have to fulfill your role as Vivi’s Godmother….” Vax trailed off, putting his head back in his hand.
“I’m not her-”
“You don’t know that~” Vax giggled at her flustered expression. Sherri sighed angrily as she went back to the box of unfiled records.
“Vivi will be fine, if she can survive eight whole years of your dickery, there’s nothing that can touch her.” Sherri was surprised by how joyous Vax’s laugh was.
“I suppose you’re right,” he managed to chuckle out, “I just hope she doesn’t do anything like, sneaking into the library during lunch or something…”
~~~
Vivian quietly opened the door to the school’s library, lunchbox in hand and backpack over her shoulder. She tried to slink through the smaller shelves right near the door, hoping to find a quiet place.
“Hello?” a voice rang out. Vivi yelped in surprise as she turned to the front desk. Behind the counter was a young woman with frizzy black hair to her shoulders and askewed glasses, book in hand.
“Ummm….hello?” Vivi replied, still trying to scoot herself to a nearby table.
“Isn’t it lunchtime? Children aren’t suppose to be in here during lunch, oh God oh God if Uriel catches you in here, he’ll think I’m slacking and-” the woman started to ramble on, looking away from Vivi and at the counter. Vivian took this opportunity to slowly back away. She scanned the room as best as she could before finding a small corner mostly obscured by the larger shelves.
Ducking in and out of the smaller shelves, Vivi hid behind the larger shelf when she heard the talking stop.
“Hello? Oh thank goodness she must’ve left.” she could hear a sigh of relief from the woman and the clicking of heels, presumably the woman going somewhere else.
Vivi let out a small sigh as she placed her backpack and lunchbox down, unzipping the former and digging around. She made an excited noise as she found what she was looking for, a hardback copy of Coraline . Vivi opened up her lunch box, taking out one of the triangle sandwiches. Settling herself into the corner, Vivi let out a content hum as she took out the paper bookmark and bit into the sandwich.
She stayed like that for a few minutes until there’s was a noise, the creaking of a door. Sandwich hanging out of her mouth, Vivi quickly put her book into her still opened backpack, fiddling with the zipper.
“Miss Syngorn?” she froze, only moving to turn and face her doom. Instead, she was greeted with a now-familiar face.
“Mr. de Rolo!” Though muffled by the food, the excitement was still evident in her voice. The older man chuckled and it was then Vivi noticed he was carrying a brown paper bag, “Lunch?”
“Ah, yes it is, though it’s not quite as cute as yours is,” He nodded over to her purple lunchbox, pink flowers decorating the front, “Mind if I join you?”
“I thought no one was suppose to be in here during lunch time?” She finally took out the leftover sandwich in her mouth.
“Yes well….” He looked around the room before rubbing the back of his neck, “I...I won’t tell if you don’t, how’s that?” He gave her a small half-smile, a pleading look in his eyes.
Vivi used her free hand to stroke her chin, looking as if she was debating over the offer for a few moments. Then, with a small nod, “Sure.” she bit into her sandwich again.
“Excellent!” he quietly exclaimed as he sat down next to her, “So, would it be rude of me to ask exactly why you’re here?” he looked to her as he opened his own bag, taking out an apple, “You’re not hiding from anyone are you?” he asked before taking a bite.
Vivi shook her head, “No, I just wanted to be with my friends.” she explained, reaching into a bag of chips.
Percy raised an eyebrow, swallowing, “Your friends?” he asked. Vivi took her free arm and waved, motioning to the shelves in the room. Percy’s eyes followed her arm, face widening in realization, “Ah.” was his only response, “So I take it you like to read then?” he chuckled out the question.
“Yeah! Daddy and my Auntie Vex used to read to me all the time!” The answer was muffled by the sound of crunching chips.
“Really? That’s wonderful,” Percy bit again into his apple, holding it in his mouth as he dug around in his bag. When he found what he was looking for, a small sandwich of his own in clear-wrap, he balanced it on his knee before taking out his apple, “I think you’re going to enjoy later today then, we’re going to be starting in on Charlotte’s Web .” Percy proudly declared, undoing the clear wrap. He stopped when he heard Vivi let out a small displeased noise, “Something wrong?”
“I already read that…...it was really sad when she died…..” Vivi mumbled weakly into the remainder of her sandwich.
“Really?” Percy bit his lip, thinking for a moment, “I might change it to Stuart Little then….”
“I’ve read that too….”
Percy looked at the young girl, his expression showing a mixture of defeat and pleasantly surprised. He kept this expression for a moment before letting out a small laugh “I have a feeling I know the answer already, but Matilda ?”
“I loved Matilda!”
Percy let out a small snort at the answer, having to hold his sandwich so it didn’t fall with the shake of his body from laughter, “Now that, Miss Syngorn, is an answer I love to hear!”’ He tried to keep his voice quiet, given their location, but the excitement was gushing out with each word, raising his voice.
Vivi giggled at him, not really sure how to respond to him for a moment, “My Auntie Zeze gave me this a little while ago,” she dug through her backpack once more, pulling out a copy of Tuck Everlasting after a few moments, “It's a little hard though, I don’t really get a lot of the words.” she confessed.
“Understandable,” Percy gently took the book in his hands, flipping it back and forth to look over it, “This is more for fifth or sixth graders to be perfectly honest. Wonderful read, but can be a little….bland in some places….” Percy placed the book back in Vivi’s hand, which she put in her backpack.
“It was like that with The Hobbit too, my Auntie Vex had to read it to me, she does the best voice for the dragon! Rawr!!” Vivi lifted her arms above her head, trying her best to copy the memory.
Percy chuckled, “I can only imagine, your father seems to have amazing sisters.”
“Auntie Zeze is Auntie Vex’s wife.”
Percy raised his eyebrows at the answer, “Oh, my apologies then.” Suddenly there was a beeping noise coming from Percy’s pocket, “Oh Jesus, I think lunch time’s over. Miss Syngorn, if you’d do me the honor of accompanying me back to class.”
Vivi only nodded as she packed up the rest of her things, following her teacher out of the library and into the hallway.
~~~
Vax could feel his discomfort increase with every tap of his finger on the steering wheel. To keep himself distracted, he looked over to see the group of what he assumed to be bus drivers, seeing as they were clustered by the buses. Vax’s eyes widened as he saw two of the drivers, behemoth-like men who towered over the still good-sized woman in their group. From what Vax could see, one of them had a lovely black beard.
Vax was taken out of his trance by a knock at his passenger’s side door. He just now realized he was rubbing his chin with his hand and immediately removed it.
“Daddy?” He heard a tiny voice where the knocking was coming from. Vax unlocked his car and the door opened, Vivi smiling at him as she got in her seat.
“Hey sweetheart! How’s your day been?” He could feel his body ease up as he turned the key. It took Vax sometime to navigate through the cars that had just arrived but he had finally made it to the main road.
“It was good! Mr. de Rolo’s a funny man!”
“Mr. de Rolo?”
“My teacher!”
“Oh,” Vax raised an eyebrow at the odd name, “Does he seem like a nice man?”
“Uh huh, he likes Matilda too!”
“Does he now?”
~~~
A knock at his door interrupted Percy’s thoughts. He turned to see Keyleth, satchel over her shoulder and…...paint on her face.
“I didn’t expect the kindergarteners to be so wild on the first day.” he pointed to his own cheek.
Keyleth raised a hand to where he was showing her, eyes widening in surprise, “Oh no, that was me! I thought we’d start of the year with face painting!”
“Of course you did,” Percy chuckled out as he organized his papers into his briefcase, “I was thinking for dinner, that cafe only a block away?”
“Your treat?”
“You wound me thinking otherwise Ms. Ashari.” a few quick moments and he was next to her, locking his door.
“Just making sure Mr. de Rolo.” The two giggled at the names, walking down the hallway and chatting about their day.