Work Text:
Etho’s plan for this season of this life series hadn’t exactly been parenthood. He didn’t even realise he’d adopted Bdubs and Scar officially. But when Cleo started demanding his support, he’d run away, not wanting any part in this strange scheme.
Etho was not one to fall for scams – in fact, he was usually the ones creating them.
But this wasn’t necessarily a scam, and instead some very very weird scenario. Last time he had checked Scar and Bdubs weren’t Cleo nor his kids. How they’d apparently ended up I their care as fully grown adults was beyond him
Obviously, it was partially as a joke, but one he seemed to have missed. Why did he have to be a father when he was just trying to survive, and maybe win, these games. Okay, winning was perhaps optimistic, considering his general lack of PvP skill, but he could still try.
Besides, it had been hurtful calling Etho washed up. He was just old, thank you very much! The worlds and their expectations had changed so much since his day, and it could be hard to keep up. He was still very good at what he did.
So, he had ignored their taunts and vague threats to begin with, abandoning Cleo to join TIES, the greatest team on the server, obviously. They had accepted him happily, and he had been busy building stone structures and ignoring his problems.
The Cleo had come knocking again, and asked for child support, or Etho to be fully absent. The sudden decision he needed t make scared him, and he had decided he’d go back to the clockers. Only for a short period of time, but he wanted to meet his kids.
However that had occurred, he’d essentially acquired new family members. As much as Cleo had annoyed him, he didn’t want his friendship with Scar and Bdubs to struggle because of this idea. So instead, he’d had the bright idea of playing catch.
A TNT minecart was the only thing he had had on him, okay?
He hadn’t meant to kill Bdubs, though Cleo told him it was entirely his fault.
That was hardly fair, but he was smart enough not to protest. As long as Bdubs and Scar forgave him, everything would be okay. He’d left their group because of Cleo in the first place, and if she wanted to call him an ex because of that, he didn’t care. He was clearly the victim.
He’d done his best to still interact with the ‘children’ which helped keep a somewhat positive relationship up. At the very least, TIES weren’t at the top of their hit list. That wasn’t really saying much however, considering that bread bridge seemed to be top of everyone’s kill list. Mainly because the Bad Boys had killed just about everyone on the server, but it still felt like a win.
And If some of the meetings between Eto and Bdubs had to be secret, even from his brother, well that was just the cost. Bdubs had forgiven him for the minecart, knowing it was his fault for not catching. How was Etho supposed to predict that?
He wasn’t exactly ging to be doing a risk assessment for everything like one of those new fangled helicopter parents. If anything, he thought Cleo would be against that as well, considering her swim or you drown stance towards most things. She wasn’t exactly a gentle parent but Etho was the problem. Please, what did Cleo even do for them anyway?
So no, Etho hadn’t expected to adopt several children, nor had he wanted any part in their lives. Yet, he’d still stepped in, and he was definitely not ‘washed up’. Honestly, the problem here was clearly Cleo, not him.