Work Text:
Elliot woke up in the morning and went through his routine as usual, trying his hair and wearing his iconic red uniform and visor. He was ready to go to work. The sun hadn’t shown its light yet when he arrived at the pizza restaurant where he worked. He parked his scooter and went in through the back door. The faint smell of pizza was still in the air.
Elliot turned on all the lights and prepared all the pizza ingredients in the kitchen while waiting for his coworkers to arrive. Let’s see who will be coming in today. Lulu and Jordan would come for the night shift, Mike should be arriving any moment now, Daisy was taking the day off because her mother was sick, and Sally had permission to arrive late for her afternoon shift. A perfect morning for Elliot: no missing ingredients, full gas tank, no Exploiters.
Suddenly, a loud door slam startled Elliot a bit. Mike’s brown hair looked messy, his breathing heavy.
“Whoa, morning Micky! Got chased by a dog again?” Elliot joked. Mike gave Elliot an annoyed look, no reply, even more annoyed by his unlucky morning, which made Elliot giggle. Elliot offered a handkerchief for Mike to wipe his sweat, and Mike responded with a light hum as thanks. After making sure everything was in its place, including Mike who was now tidied up, Elliot flipped the sign from closed to open as a signal that the restaurant was now open. Now, we wait for the customers to come.
Customers came in, ordering pizza and enjoying the service, especially with the restaurant’s warm atmosphere. Sally finally arrived, carrying a plastic bag filled with snacks as an apology for being late. Mike teased her because the snacks weren’t enough, and Sally responded angrily smacking him, which earned both of them a scolding from Elliot. It was such a peaceful day that Elliot grew a little suspicious about the what fate might have in store, but he brushed it off, thinking it was passing feeling.
When break time arrived, Elliot sat in the back chair, trying to stretch his body, but his phone suddenly rang. It was his father, Mr. Builder, the Orange one — calling him. Without hesitation, Elliot immediately picked up.
“Hi Dad, need something from me?”
“No, son. Could you come home a bit early today? There’s something I need to talk to you about…” His voice was gentle, deep, and warm as always. Elliot was so lucky to have him as a father.
“I’ll try, Dad! How about 5 p.m.?”
“5 p.m.”
Elliot ended the call, curious about what his father wanted to discuss. Maybe something important about the restaurant, or maybe his sister got a boyfriend or girlfriend? Hopefully not yet. After stretching once last time, Elliot went back to work, ready to serve customers with the warm smile that always tied everyone together.
Before he knew it, it was already 4:47 p.m. Elliot told his coworkers that he would be going home early today. He started his scooter and headed toward the family house, the place where he and his family gathered. Elliot rented an apartment near the restaurant with his own money because he wanted to learn to live independently. Even though his father had offered to buy him a house nearby, Elliot insisted on getting one through his own hard work, and Mr. Builder couldn’t go against the decision of his beloved son.
He arrived at the front door, or more accurately, the Builder family mansion. Oh Telamon, he had forgotten how wealthy he actually was because he’d been so focused on saving money to buy his own house. Elliot pressed the doorbell, and the door was opened by a girl with a black ribbon, his younger sister, Mia.
“BROTHER!?” She looked shocked. Maybe their father hadn’t told her he was coming home. Elliot smiled warmly and gently patted her head.
“Mia, miss me? I’m home.”
“Haah!? NOOO! NOT AT ALL! Hmph! And… welcome home, by the way — I didn’t expect you to come today… Dad’s in the kitchen.”
Mia immediately went off to do her own things. Even though deep inside she really, really missed her older brother, come on! she was already 16! She wasn’t a little kid who would cling to her brother all the time, right?
Elliot sighed walked in, not forgetting to close the door behind him, and headed to the kitchen to meet his father. When he arrived, he found his father drinking jasmine tea while reading the newspaper, Dad things, huh.
His father noticed his son’s presence and gestured for him to sit across from him. He let out a long, deep sigh that made Elliot a bit nervous about the “something” his father wanted to tell him. Had he accidentally done something wrong at work? Or was something worse about to happen?
“So, son… what do you think about having a new father?”
"eh?"
The silence was too loud. Elliot was too stunned to speak, his expression frozen in that goofy smile of his. Mr. Builder chuckled, taking off his orange construction helmet and placing it on the table. He had already expected his son to react like this.Elliot quickly shook his head in panic, moving around anxiously as he tried to make sense of what his father meant.
“NO NO, DAD! You are the BEEEEST DAD EVER! If you want to be free from your kids, you can.. You can take a vacation! Mia and I can’t live without you if you resign from being our dad! So please, Dad, don’t register us into an orphanage!”
This time, it was Mr. Builder’s turn to fall silent and then he burst into laughter, completely surprised that his son thought he was going to go out for milk and never come back.
Elliot jumped at how loudly his father laughed. When the two of them finally calmed down a bit, Mr. Builder gently patted Elliot’s head, still chuckling because of his son’s dramatic reaction. Maybe head-patting was a family tradition passed down through generations of Builders who knows.
“No, not like that, silly Liot. I mean I have a partner whom I’m going to marry soon. We’ve been together for over a year, and maybe it’s time for you to know" Mr. Builder sighed "Sorry for not telling you sooner son.”
“A partner?… A new dad?… A NEW DAD!! Who’s the lucky man, Dad? I can’t wait to meet him!”
This time, Mr. Builder became a little nervous. His ears turned slightly red at the thought of his partner, while Elliot kept teasing him nonstop, insisting he reveal who had won his heart again.
After Elliot and Mia’s mother passed away while giving birth to Mia, their father was devastated and isolated himself in his room. Mia constantly blamed herself, thinking she caused their mother’s death and made it harder for their father to recover from losing the woman he loved. But Elliot rejected Mia’s silly guilt outright, telling her it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Their father loved both Elliot and Mia dearly. The loss had simply been too heavy, and it took years for him to heal.
Now, finally, someone had won their father’s heart again, and of course Elliot was very curious.
“You’ll find out later… clean yourself, son. He’s coming at eight tonight.”
“Awwwweee, buutt Daaad—”
“Stop whining and go take a shower. Mia’s waiting you outside the kitchen.”
Elliot turned toward the open kitchen door and saw Mia caught red-handed, trying to deny that she had been waiting for him.
“Oh- OH! THAT’S SOoO WRONG! I- I WAS JUST GETTING WATER!”
Elliot shifted his attention to his sister and walked toward her, momentarily forgetting what he and his father had been discussing. Meanwhile, Mr. Builder felt relieved that he no longer had to answer his son’s questions. He glanced at the sunset through the nearest window, imagining the expression he would wear when he met his partner.
He chuckled to himself, then stood up to tidy his appearance, he couldn’t let his partner see him looking too messy.
Elliot was ready to accept whoever would become his new father. Yes, anyone… Anyone except the brown-haired man with a silly burger hat on his head. He wasn’t even on Elliot’s list.
What was that man doing here… Wait, don’t tell him…
“Oh Telamon, has my dad been hacked..?”
He even let his hair down and worn a simple gray turtleneck to show that whoever his father’s partner was, he would accept them wholeheartedly. Honestly, he would accept anyone as long as his father was happy! But Elliot never expected that the lucky man would be him, 007n7. An exploiter. A terrorist who had been terrorizing their family’s restaurant for years.
“So, Elliot, Mia, let me introduce the person who will become your new father, 007n7! Say hi to him, kids.”
Mr. Builder looked amused by his children’s reactions, especially Elliot’s stunned expression. Meanwhile, his partner only smiled nervously and murmured a small “hi.”
"Dad.."
“Yes, my dearly beloved son?”
“Dad… c-congratulations… on… y-your relationship.”
No, Elliot couldn’t ruin this joyful atmosphere — not with Mia looking so excited, not with his father being lovestruck.
“Thank you… El…”
This time, 007n7 responded. He knew how hard this was for Elliot to accept. He had terrorized the place Elliot worked at countless times, but knowing Elliot’s personality… deep down he knew Elliot would forgive everything if he behaved sincerely. Yet look at him hitting on the father of his own victim. Ironic, isn’t it?
“Ah, I forgot to tell you both that we’ll be getting married next month, right on my birt—”
Before Mr. Builder could finish, Elliot cut in.
“N-Next month…?”
“Yeah, next month! And you two will call him Dad!”
007n7 stayed quiet, but a faint blush appeared on his cheeks as his partner excitedly talked about their wedding schedule. Meanwhile, the culprit himself seemed to enjoy the atmosphere he had created. Elliot tried his best to smile and accept his father’s decision. Right… anything to make his father happy, he would be happy too.
Mia, on the other hand, couldn’t hold her excitement and immediately jumped toward 007n7, bombarding him with questions.
Mr. Builder watched his son for a moment, then walked over and gently patted his head again with a warm smile. That gesture made Elliot determined to protect that smilem
no matter the cost.
Mr. Builder and 007n7 stood together on the mansion balcony. He had already told Mia to go to sleep since it was late, and told Elliot to stay and calm himself in his room, handing him a cold drink to help cool his head.
007n7 let out a tired sigh. He had been nervous and awkward throughout the entire meeting with his boyfriend’s family. How was he supposed to adapt after the wedding if he kept acting like this? Especially with Elliot, even though Elliot tried his best to treat 007n7 the same way he treated everyone else.
Mr. Builder chuckled as he looked at his partner’s pitiful expression.
“Come on, Sevs, I know my son. He’ll accept you, don’t worry.”
Mr. Builder leaned against the balcony railing, enjoying the night breeze that drifted through the Builder family residence.
“I know, Will… but considering everything I’ve done, I know he’ll suffer trying to accept me, forgive me, unless I make some real effort.”
007n7 buried his face harshly into his hands, disappointed in himself.
…..
“Then make an effort.”
Mr. Builder looked at the crescent moon in the sky.
“What..?”
“Make an effort to move my son’s heart.”
Mr. Builder finally looked directly into 007n7’s eyes.
“B-but… how…”
“I don’t know. But considering how humble and forgiving my son is, it should be easy for you.”
“What if.. I fail?”
“Try again. And again, and again until my son gets tired of you. Prove yourself, Sevs.. Prove that you deserve his forgiveness, that you deserve to be called his father, that you deserve to become… my husband.”
Those words stirred something inside 007n7. He stood up straight, leveling himself with William Builder, his boyfriend, his soon-to-be husband. filled with determination.
Right. If he had won the father’s heart, he shouldn’t forget to win the son’s heart as well.
Unexpectedly, 007n7 hugged Mr. Builder tightly, and Mr. Builder returned the hug with a gentle embrace.
“Thank you… Willy… And the moon looks beautiful, doesn’t it?”
…
…
…
But.. hey didn’t know that Elliot had accidentally overheard their conversation when he went to grab another cold drink. Elliot rubbed the back of his neck, then quietly walked away toward his room.
“Good luck… Father…”