Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

C00lk1d dragged his feet as he walked home from school. He hated school. Stupid other kids, they didn't like to play right, and they were mean. Dirty cheaters! K1dd huffed and stamped his foot, tail smacking his backpack with frustration as he walked up to the door of his house. The car wasn't in the driveway, which meant his dad wasn't home yet; at least that meant he wouldn’t have to do his homework right away. His anger got the better of him as C00lk1dd slammed the door behind him with a kick when he heard a voice come from the couch.

"Woah, kid, what did the door do to you?"

C00lk1dd jumped at the unexpected voice. Shedletsky. That was a newer addition to his life, his dads... whatever. He didn’t mind Shedletsky, he was nice, but he didn't want the avian in his house right then, when he was trying not to explode from that day’s school. "None of your business." The kid grumbled.

Shedletsky frowned and pushed himself off the couch to look at C00lk1dd. The child had a scrape on his knees, scratched up knuckles, and misty-looking eyes beneath his furrowed brow. The avian grimaced at his appearance, the kid seemed to have had a rough day. "Let's go get ice cream." He said, standing up and ruffling C00lk1dds hair.

"What?" The kid responded.

"Ice cream." Shedletsky repeated. "You and me."

"But what about my homework?" C00lk1dd asked, but Shedletsky just laughed.

"Naah, fu- screw your homework you can do it after ice cream." Shedletsky slid on his sandals and looked at the kid. "Are you coming?"

A smile burst on C00lk1dd's face, as he threw off his backpack and followed his dad's boyfriend.

The pair walked to the ice cream stand that was in the park near 007n7s house. C00lk1dd got vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and watched as Shedletsky made an order of three scoops. When K1dd asked if he could have more than one little scoop, he was hit with “Little scoops for little guys, you can get more when you’re bigger.” C00lk1dd huffed but happily took his ice cream when it was ready for him. Together they sat side by side on a park bench near the stand, C00lk1dd kicking his feet that wouldn’t quite reach the ground.

"So," Shedletsky asked, licking his ice cream, "what happened at school?"

“It was fine.” The kid replied.

“Just fine?” C00lk1dd just nodded before Shedletsky continued. “Did you have any fun with your classmates?”

“They don’t play right.” C00lk1dd mumbled, frowning at his ice cream.

“What was that?” Shedletsky asked, even though he had heard the boy fine. This is what parenting is, right? Getting the kid to open up?

"The other kids don't play right!" C00lk1dd repeated, louder.

Shedletsky hummed in response.

"And they call me scary." C00lk1dd mumbled. "They say bad things about dad."

Shedletsky hummed again, lower this time with his jaw clenched. "And does your dad know about this?"

C00lk1dd shook his head. "Dad’s got enough to worry about. He doesn't need to worry about kids being mean."

Shedletsky huffed. It wasn't his place to intervene as the boyfriend of the kid’s dad, but he didn't want to sit idly by as the kid got bullied; he wanted to be a good… stepdad didn’t sound right, but it was the closest that Shedletsky could think of. "How 'bout I pick you up from school tomorrow?" He said.

"But I usually walk home." C00lk1dd said, looking at the avian next to him.

"We can walk, but how about I walk with you? What do you say?"

C00lk1dd kicked his feet with a small grin. "That would be cool." He liked spending time with Shedletsky.

Shedletsky grinned, pulling the kid into a side hug. "Perfect. Now, how about we head back home before your dad can get back and flip that you're gone." C00lk1dd nodded. "And do your homework." Shedletsky added, despite C00lk1dds cries of disappointment in response.

007n7 fussed with his keys to open the front door of the small home he had with his son C00lk1dd after a long shift.

"Hey K1dd!" He called out as he shoved his shoes off by the door. "I'm back!" When he turned toward the couch near the door, he saw his son sitting on the floor by the coffee table and Shedletsky on the couch. "What's this?" 007 asked, walking to his partner and pressing a kiss to his temple. "I didn't know you were coming over, Shed."

The avian shrugged. "I was bored, so I napped on your couch."

007 nodded and turned to his son. "K1dd, how was school?"

The red boy looked up at his dad from his worksheet. "It was fine."

"That's good, and you're doing your homework without me asking? Maybe Shed is being a better influence than I feared."

"Feared?" Shedletsky gasped, hand over his heart. "You wound me, Sevs."

007 shook his head and sighed. "Well, what do you two want to eat?"

The two voices overlapped with different options as 007 looked to see what he had in the fridge. It was nearly empty. The man let out a shaky sigh, he couldn't afford to get takeout tonight, especially not if Shedletsky was dining with them. He checked the cupboard, only enough bread for two sandwiches. "How does PB and J sou-"

"I'll get us pizza." Shedletsky suggested from the couch, cutting off 007. He had seen the kitchen, and he knew 007 well enough that he realized the ex-hacker would rather feed Shedletsky and C00lk1dd rather than himself.

He was already on his phone ordering before 007 could intervene.

"Yay! Pizza!" C00lk1dd cheered.

"It'll be here in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free." Shedletsky grinned at his partner, who frowned.

"Shed, can I talk to you real quick?"

Shedletsky lifted himself off the couch and walked to the kitchen to stand near 007. "No need to thank me-"

"Please don't do that." 007 cut off the avian.

"What?" Shedletsky blinked at the other.

"I can provide for me and C00lk1dd, please don't buy us stuff we don’t need."

"Seven, you know me and builder can afford-" Shedletsky began, but was cut off again.

"I know you can afford it, but I don't need your charity."

"I know, but I just want you to eat too. I know the pantry is... lacking this time of the month for you, so just let me get the two of you this so you don’t have to feed me too."

007 groaned. "Fine." He huffed and dropped his head to Shedletsky’s shoulder. "Thanks, Shed."

"'Course," Shedletsky pulled 007 into a deeper hug. "I don't mean to baby you, but I-me and builder - we just want you to be able to rest some."

007 nodded and allowed Shedletsky to pull him to the couch.

"Hey, lil ' guy, wanna tell your old man what all we did today?"

C00lk1dd grinned. "Shed got me ice cream!"

"Ice cream?" 007 said, eyeing the man next to him. "You spoil him."

Shedletsky shrugged. "Kid deserved a treat."

007 sighed and returned his attention to his son. "What did you do at school?"

C00lk1d launched into a dump of information about the book his teacher was reading to the class until the doorbell rang with the pizzas.

After dinner was eaten, C00lk1dd was sent to wash up for bed as Shedletsky and 007 spoke in hushed tones on the couch together.

"I'm gonna start picking him up after school." Shedletsky said.

"What?"

"I think he gets lonely with you at work, and I'm not all that busy."

“But, Shed, won’t Builderman get mad at you? I mean, you shirk your admin responsibilities enough.”

“I mean, better I slack for a good reason, right?”

C00lk1dd ran into the living room and proudly showed off his drakobloxxer pajamas and the fact that he was clean, cutting off any more discussion between the adults in the room.

"Teeth?" 007 asked before C00lk1dd beamed brightly to show his brushed teeth. "You went pee?" C00lk1dd nodded. "Alright, time to tuck you in then, say goodnight to Shedletsky."
"Can't he tuck me in too?" C00lk1dd asked.

"You want him to come with to say goodnight?" 007 asked, slightly shocked that his son would request such a change in his nightly routine, but the boy nodded vigorously. "Alright." 007 sighed as he took his son’s hand and walked him to his bedroom at the back of the house, Shedletsky in tow.

C00lk1dd snuggled into his red racecar bed as his dad turned off the big light, leaving his dinosaur nightlight on (not because he was scared of the dark, C00lk1dd wasn’t scared of anything, but so he could see if he needed anything during the night).

"Goodnight C00lk1dd." 007 said, kissing his son’s forehead between his horns.

"Night, Dad." C00lk1dd mumbled, already sounding sleepy.

"Night squirt." Shedletsky grabbed the boy’s hand and squeezed softly.

"G'night, Shed." C00lk1dd mumbled as he squeezed the admin's hand back, not letting go until sleep quickly took the boy.

"See you tomorrow after school." Shedletsky whispered as 007 shut the door with a soft click.

Epilogue:

C00lk1d sat on the swing of his school’s playground as he waited for Shedletsky to pick him up as promised, when one of the other kids from his class strolled up.

"Whattya waiting for here Droolk1dd?" They asked, laughing.

"Waiting for my dad’s boyfriend to pick me up." He mumbled.

"Gotta speak up, I almost heard that your loser of a dad has a boy-" The bully was cut off by a shout.

"Hey, kid! Come're!" Shedletsky called out.

C00lk1dd leapt from the swing, smile on his face as he ran into Shedletsky's arms.

"Your dad actually has a boyfriend? And he’s Shedletsky?" The other child’s jaw dropped, shocked at the appearance of the sword-fighting admin.

"Yeah!" C00lk1dd shouted. "And he's friends with Builderman!"

Shedletsky chuckled and ruffled his kid’s hair. "C'mon, buddy, let’s go home."

Chapter Text

Look at this amazing render my wonderful girlfriend made!! Go follow them on twitter at joyzal1en !!!