Chapter Text
The loft was well-populated with the Horsemen, all exhausted after a long show, and an even tougher escape.
Atlas was playing with his cards on the sofa chair, curled up with his legs up. Henley was breaking in and out of her handcuffs, sitting on the floor with her back pushed up against the sofa seat, while Lula mimicked her. Meanwhile, Merritt’s hat covered his face as he dozed off on the said couch. Jack sat on the floor, reading one of Dylan’s books on magic.
The door gave a soft, ‘click’, open as Dylan walked in greeting the Horsemen. “Good job on the coordination with Merritt in today’s show.” He flicked his chin in Jack’s direction.
“Cool. Thanks, Dad.” Jack replied mindlessly, as he flipped the page. The room froze in place, everyone looked up. Eventually, Jack looked up from his book.
“Why… is everyone staring at me?”
“You just called Dylan, ‘dad’.” Henley replied, half amused and half shell-shocked.
“No, I didn’t, I said ‘Thanks, man.’” The denial was clear in Jack’s voice.
“Do you see me as a… father figure, Jack?” Dylan’s smile widened as he dropped his keys in the small bowl next to the door.
“No!” Jack protested, a defensive tone took over his voice as Dylan watched on, amused.
“It’s alright.” Merritt drawled from under his fedora. “I called my ex-fiancee ‘mom’ once.”
“Jump on that! Merritt has psycho-sexual issues!” Jack exclaimed.
Atlas leaned forward predatorily, having fun with this. “Old news.” He smiled. “But you calling Dylan, ‘daddy’?”
“Daddy was not on the table!” Jack nearly shouted. He placed the book down on the table with some force.
“Okay,” Lula interjected. “But you did call him Dad.”
Jack huffed in exasperation.
“No, no, Jack. I take it as a compliment.” He grinned. “Do you want to talk about it over a game of catch?”
An imperceptible mumble came out from Jack. “That would be nice.”