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On the first day of kindergarten, Mydei sees an angel. White hair, blue eyes, a smile that lights up the whole room—he’s exactly like the stories his mommy reads to him before bedtime.
Crossing the room as fast as he can with his short stubby legs, he goes up to the angel and says, “Fight me!”
He raises his fist, just like the way the grown ups do. He has only seen it a few times when he can’t fall asleep and goes to find his daddy in the living room while he’s watching TV, but he’s sure this is how they fight.
The angel stares at him with his big blue eyes and blinks. There’s wrinkly lines on his forehead (his mommy tells him that’s when people think really hard) and he’s fidgeting with his fluffy doggy plush (Mydei can introduce him to Mr. Lion later, they can be good friends).
“Mom says good boys don’t fight,” he says, taking a few steps backwards.
Now it’s Mydei’s turn to get all wrinkly on his forehead. His mommy told him the same thing. She said people can get hurt if they fight and he doesn’t want to hurt the angel… But he really needs to fight.
Mydei hardens his resolve and approaches the angel again.
He closes the distance between them and reaches out to give him a light poke.
The angel tilts his head in confusion, “Why are you touching me?”
“We’re fighting,” Mydei huffs.
“That’s how people fight?” the angel asks in awe.
“I think so.”
The angel gives a resolute nod and points him back.
That was enough to start a whole battle. They go back and forth, trading pokes. Then they discovered the technique of dodging. They started using two hands instead of one for double pokes.
Eventually they tire themselves out and need to lay on the carpet to catch their breath.
“What do we do now?” the angel wonders. He rolls to his side and stops when his face is inches away from Mydei’s.
“Mommy says after we fight we can get married. That’s how we do it in Castrum Kremnos,” Mydei replies.
“Married? But I don’t know your name.”
“My name is Mydeimos, but mommy calls me Mydei.”
The angel flashes him a big smile. “Nice to meet you Friday, my name is Phainon.”
Mydei crunches his nose. “My name is not Friday, it’s Mydei!”
“Wifedei?”
“My-dei,” he says again, making sure to sound out his name properly.
“Wife-dei!” Phainon repeats.
Mydei sighs. His husband is a bit dumb, but he shouldn’t tell him that because it’s a mean thing to say.
He’s about to teach Phainon how to say his name again when the boy lets out a loud gasp and shoots up. Phainon ran across the room to retrieve something from his bag before returning to where they were seated on the carpet.
“Gimme your hand,” he demands.
Mydei directs him a curious look before agreeing.
Phainon slides a Ring Pop on his ring finger. “I have to give you a ring if we get married. That’s how we do it in Aedes Elysiae,” he explains proudly.
“Thank you!” Mydei beams, admiring his shiny ring.
“What do we do now that we’re married?” Phainon asks, linking hands with Mydei.
Mydei pauses to think. “I don’t know…”
“Hmm… I think Cyrene said we take care of a baby. But I don’t have a baby,” Phainon says, crestfallen.
“I don’t have a baby either,” Mydei joins him in being disappointed. “But I have Mr. Lion! Do you want to meet Mr. Lion?” he offers excitedly.
“Okay!” Phainon cheers. “Can I bring Snowy?” he shoves his doggy plush in Mydei’s face.
“Uh huh, let’s go!”
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Eurypon has been worried all day ever since he bid farewell to his precious son that morning by the kindergarten gates. He had a really bad feeling ten minutes after they separated and Gorgo had to yank him by the necktie to stop him from turning the car around.
His instinct is rarely wrong when it comes to Mydeimos, and something tells him his son was being stolen from right under his nose.
He didn’t even apologise for shoving past other parents in his haste to be the first in line to pick up his son.
His heart melts when he sees the way his son’s face lit up and ran up to him. His heart sinks when he notices the boy being dragged by his son, their fingers tightly woven together.
Oh no.
“Mommy! Daddy!” Mydei waddles over.
Eurypon resisted the urge to scoop his son up into his arms and plant a million smooches on that cute little face. His Little Lion would protest squirm like a cat being manhandled to a visit to the vet.
“Hello my Little Lion,” his wife greets from his side. “Did you make a new friend today?” her eyes flicker back and forth between the two boys, delighted by what she sees.
“He’s not my friend,” Mydei corrects, “We got married!”
Gorgo lets out a soft “oh” while Eurypon drops to his knees.
“What did you say?” He can hardly believe the words escaping his son’s mouth.
Married?
His son was far too young to get married! And to a little rascal nonetheless!
“Phainon and I got married today!” Mydei happily repeats. “He got me this ring, look!”
Eurypon notices the ugly purple and yellow candy ring on his son’s hand. He can’t believe his son was seduced by such a cheap piece of junk. The Kremnos heir deserves real rubies and diamonds, not this monstrosity that can be bought at a convenient store for less than a dollar.
He can already see his son living on the streets if he chooses to be with this bum. This toddler probably doesn’t even have his own savings account—how can he provide the luxurious lifestyle that his son deserves!?
His wife seems to disagree with him. She coos and tells them, “That’s a very lovely ring! Welcome to the family, Phainon.”
“No! Absolutely not!” Eurypon objects.
His booming voice causes the other parents and kids to look over and Gorgo scolds him for making a scene.
“Ahem. What I mean is, Phainon has his own family, don’t you, child?” Eurypon plasters a polite business smile on his face, the one reserved for dull board meetings he has to sit through and pretend the rest of the room aren’t a bunch of monkeys.
“I don’t see—”
At that moment, two voices call out for Phainon and he whips his head to the source. He excitedly waves his left hand, his other hand still linked with Mydei’s, and beckons his parents towards them.
“Phainon! Sorry to keep you waiting dear. Who’s your new friend?” his mom asks when she’s close enough to notice their interlocking hands.
“His name is Wifedei,” the little menace answers in an irritating, squeaky voice. “We got married today!”
“I told you my name is My-dei!” his Little Lion roars.
“Wife-dei,” the little brat makes no attempts at correcting himself.
Pathetic. How will he be able to make his son happy if he can’t even learn from his mistakes? Is his son doomed to be tied to a husband who won’t even listen to him? Eurypon needs to snip the buds before this romance blossoms.
“Excuse me young man, I never agreed to letting you marry my son,” Eurypon growls at the three-year-old.
Phainon pouts. “But I gave him a ring…”
“And we fought too!” Mydei chimes in. “That means we’re married!”
“You what?” Eurypon hisses, eyes desperately scanning his baby boy for any signs of bruising.
“Yeah, we fought like this,” his son confirms before launching a poking campaign against the unguarded brat.
Eurypon visibly relaxes at the explanation, but not by much. The little gremlin still touched his son.
Phainon giggles. “That kinda tickles.”
The two of them dissolve into a bout of laughter and his wife is already exchanging contact information with the rascal’s parents.
They are arranging a playdate in front of him despite how abundantly clear it is that this hooligan is an unfit playmate for his son. He can’t even say his son’s name properly for Nikador’s sake!
Eurypon takes a breath to steady himself before trying once again to salvage his son’s future happiness.
“You two are far too young to get married,” he reasons. “You have to love each other like mommy and daddy do,” Eurypon pleads with his son.
“Mmmm,” Mydei says deep in thought. He then turns to Phainon and utters something that makes Eurypon want to homeschool his son until he’s completed his post-secondary education.
“I love you Phainon!”
The boy in question perks up and tackles his son into a hug.
“I love you too!”
In one swift movement, faster than anyone can stop it, the mongrel kisses his son—on the lips. A very audible smooch was heard before Eurypon breaks the two apart. He shoves the little punk and lifts Mydei into his arms.
Mydei wiggles in his hold and very loudly protests, telling his daddy to let him go. Meanwhile the little thief who stole his son’s first kiss has the audacity to have glomps of tears pooling at his eyes, asking why he can’t hold hands with his son anymore.
Eurypon very determinedly starts walking out of the room without looking back. His wife lingers, looking flustered by the sudden turn of events and apologises to the other family.
“See you tomorrow, Phainon. It was very lovely to meet you Audata and Hieronymus. So sorry for my husband’s ridiculous behaviour, we’ll be in touch!” she assured before catching up with her husband and son.
On the ride home Eurypon grumbles the entire time about how he knew public school was a mistake. He made Mydei clean his lips with wet wipes three times—”we don’t know what type of germs that mutt is carrying Gorgo”—before he’s satisfied.
His Little Lion glares at him, he crosses his arms in a very “I’m upset with you, daddy” type of way. As much as it hurts Eurypon for his son to be mad at him, Mydei will thank him in the future when he’s spared from the struggles of marrying a deadbeat.
When they arrive home and Mydei is guided to his room by Krateros, Gorgo tears her husband a new one.
“What the hell are you thinking? Why would you shove that sweet boy? Are you a manchild who can’t even regulate his own emotions?”
“That unruly child stole our son’s first kiss!” Eurypon argues. “Our Mydeimos should be with a prim and proper gentleman, not that…that—barbain!”
Gorgo places her hands at her hips, signally that it’s serious business.
“That is a three-year-old Eurypon! They’re kids! They do dumb things that they don’t understand. They won’t even remember that kiss by next week!”
“Are you saying you’re okay with our son marrying that brat?”
Gorgo sighs. “We all know that little joke won’t matter in the future. That’s just kids being impressionable. Maybe we should tone down our affection in front of our son since you’re so worried about it,” she warns.
“No Dear, do not punish me like this,” Eurypon urges. “We can drop this matter. I’m sure I can make arrangements for Mydei to be tutored from the comforts of our home.”
Gorgo shoots him a deadly glare. That was the wrong thing to say.
“We are not homeschooling our son and having him be emotionally stunted like you. He needs socialization and Phainon would make an excellent friend,” Gorgo asserts.
“That boy needs to stay away from my son!” Eurypon yells exasperated.
“What that boy needs is an apology,” Gorgo jabs a pointed finger at Eurypon’s chest. “If you don’t make an effort to stop antagonising that poor child, don’t bother entering our bedroom tonight. I’ll have Krateros tell the staff to clean up the guest bedroom.”
“But Dear—”
“No buts,” Gorgo silences him. “I need a clear answer. You’ll stop picking on that child, yes or no?”
“Yes Dear,” Eurypon gives in reluctantly.
The next day when he drops off his son, he gives Phainon a halfhearted apology and hands him the cookies his wife baked. He hopes that little menace eats too many sweets and rots all of his teeth.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Unfortunately the friendship between the two toddlers sticks over the years, much to Eurypon’s disappointment. His daily prayers for someone better to swipe his Little Lion off his feet goes unanswered. Why must Nikador forsake him?
Eurypon has begrudgingly gotten used to Phainon’s presence when he gets invited over for playdates. That little brat did not shy away from making himself feel at home.
At first it was the kitchen. Next to his son’s favourite stash of pomegranate juice they started keeping lemonade in stock for the other boy. Then, it was Mydei’s bedroom. Every once in a while Eurypon notices a new trinket that little devil has gifted his son to further seduce him.
There’s also the atrocious hand-made holiday cards the brat keeps giving them. The chicken-scratch handwriting is a pain to decipher and the scribbles look like a mess—he can’t even draw a star properly! Despite all of this, his wife stores all of the cards in a binder for safekeeping and encourages the boy who’s clearly lacking artistic talent.
What really made Eurypon’s blood boil is when the scallywag invaded his garden—the garden he takes care of during his free time and poured his heart into maintaining.
He had to carve out a portion of the land when his son told him he wanted to grow a garden with Phainon. But what else was he supposed to do? Say no to his son?
And so, he let the two dig up his prized marigolds and start a vegetable farm. To rub salt on the wound, the vegetables are actually thriving due to the brat’s meticulous care, something he’s given up growing in his garden after months of failure with the unsuitable soil.
How on earth did that rascal manage to succeed at something he failed to do?
He’s so sick of that bright smile that has his wife and son wrapped around the little gremlin’s fingers. How can they not see that something nefarious hides beneath that dazzling smile?
The door bell rings and he’s faced with the devil himself.
“Hello Mr. Strife, is Mydei home?” The six-year-old greets him.
At some point he finally learned how to properly say his son’s name. He’s also more well-spoken over the years but that does not raise his favourability in Eurypon’s eyes. If anything, that hint of the charismatic man this child will grow up to be is a sure indicator that he will become a player who will break his son’s delicate heart.
“No. Get out of my house.”
Gorgo walks up to her husband and smacks the back of his head. “Mydei is waiting in his bedroom, there’s snacks in the kitchen you can grab before you go find him,” his traitorous wife says.
“Thanks Ms. Strife!” He heads for the kitchen after a polite bow.
“Surely we can’t keep letting him barge in unannounced like he owns the place,” Eurypon complains.
“Audata asked if he could stop by today and I agreed. Not my fault that you have the group chat muted.” Ah yes. He did do that when the constant mention of the brat’s name gave him a migraine.
He spends the next little while moping in his home office when the sound of a crash spurred him into action.
Eurypon slams open the door to his son’s bedroom and is met with an unholy sight—that beast is on top of his son, pining him to the ground.
“You!” Eurypon booms, face red with fury. “What are you doing to my son!”
How dare this brat come into his house and force himself upon his son?
“Sorry!” the scoundrel frantically apologises as he scrambles to get up.
“It’s not his fault father,” Eurypon rue the day his son came home from kindergarten after learning a much more formal way of addressing his parents. “He tripped over the toy car that I forgot to put away.”
Just before Eurypon has the chance to use this accident as a very valid excuse to evict the menace from his house, his wife arrives at the scene.
“Oh my, what happened? You two are soaking wet.” It’s at this moment that Eurypon notices the juice stains splattered across the boys’ shirts (undoubtedly spilled by the clumsy brat).
Gorgo ushers the boys to get up and follow her. “Let’s get you boys cleaned up. I’m sure the bathtub is big enough for the both of you.”
Eurypon’s vision flickers black and there’s a sharp ringing in his ears. What exactly is his wife proposing? For the two of them to be in a bath together? Unclothed!?
“There’s plenty of bathtubs in our house. They do not need to bathe together,” Eurypon protests.
“I want to take a bath with Phainon,” Mydei says innocently, almost sending him to an early grave.
The brat’s eyes shine with adoration and by the look of his wife’s amused smile, he knows this is a lost cause.
Eurypon retreats to the master bedroom and locks himself in. He digs up the photo albums of baby Mydeimos from before he started kindergarten. How he desperately wishes he could go back to those simpler times.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Eurypon thought a miracle had happened when Phainon stopped coming to their house for three days in a row. No obnoxious laughter echoing off the walls, no impromptu competitions that warrants a noise complaint, and no signs of the white ahoge anywhere.
Since his son and that gremlin were attached at the hip for pretty much everything, this could only mean one thing—they had a fight and stopped being friends.
This is everything Eurypon ever wished for.
He popped open a bottle of the finest vintage wine he had been saving for a worthy celebration and ordered the chefs to prepare his son’s favourite meal. Eurypon is ready to be a supportive father.
The only downside is that his son is noticeably less energetic than usual. He’s less chatty at the dinner table and spends more time picking at his food than eating it. Eurypon often finds his son wandering around the halls aimlessly and zoning out. There was a particularly close call with the eight million dollar vase his son almost knocked over had it not been for Eurypon’s warning.
Eurypon knew that his son’s dazed state is due to the annoying brat’s absence, but he had a reputation to maintain and has better things to be doing than probing his son for details regarding the white haired nuisance.
Besides, his son will be over it in a few days. He’s sure a boy as charming as Mydeimos will have everyone bowing at his feet and begging for companionship, the brat will be replaced in a heartbeat.
Mydeimos comes home sulking the next day.
And the next.
And the day after that.
By the seventh day, his son dropped the act completely, not even bothering to feint interest in the food as he excused himself from the dinner table and locked himself in his room. There he will remain in his bed, staring up at the ceiling like he had been doing all weekend.
“I don’t remember being like that as a child,” his wife calmly comments while slicing her steak. “He inherits his dramatics from you.”
Eurypon would take offense to that if the thought of Mydeimos taking after him didn’t have him grinning from ear to ear. He’s more surprised by his wife’s indifferent attitude. He had thought she adored the little brat and would’ve been upset by this friendship breakup. Maybe she finally sees the light.
Although he’s happy to be freed from the stray who keeps showing up to family dinners uninvited, he’s a father at heart. He worries for his son.
He waits until it’s past Mydeimos’ bedtime to sneak into his room for a quick checkup.
There, he finds his son curled up with his favourite plushie (the white chimera mascot that brat won for him at a fair). His eyes were red and puffy, dried tear stains streaked down his face. In a whiny voice, he calls out for Phainon.
Eurypon’s stomach dropped.
He never has never seen his son in such a distraught state before.
Mydeimos had always been a clingy child. As a baby, he cries for his mommy and daddy constantly to the point where Eurypon had to hold him during business meetings to appease him. It had been a nightmare when his favourite maid had to take an extended leave to tend to her sick mother. But none of that measures the mopey state his son is in thanks to Phainon’s absence.
Eurypon sighs and retreats to his bedroom. He’ll sleep on it. If the angel on his shoulder doesn’t fade by morning…
By morning, the angel is still there with his insufferable puppy eyes.
Which is why Eurypon is now standing before the Khaslana residence with a checkbook in hand.
He rings the door bell and waits.
A few seconds later, the door swings open to reveal the face he dreaded seeing.
“Mr. Strife, what are you doing here? It’s six o’clock.”
Eurypon grunts in lieu of a greeting. “Name your price.”
“Pardon?” the boy feigns ignorance. By Nikador, the nine-year-old is a good negotiator. He’s using the sweet and innocent tactic to barter a better deal.
“What will it take for you to be friends with my Mydeimos again? A million? Ten million?"
His eyes widen like saucers. His little peasant brain probably can’t fathom that amount.
He composes himself. “I’m sorry sir, but my dad says friends cannot be bought.”
That little… He’s making it difficult on purpose. He’s probably laughing to himself, waiting to see how desperate his darling son will act to beg for his friendship.
Fury takes over Eurypon.
“Listen here you little brat, my son has hardly been eating these past few days because of you!”
The brat’s confused expression morphs into one of horror and concern. “Mydei is not eating? What happened? Is he okay?”
Eurypon explodes. “How dare you act like you’re not responsible. He’s heartbroken after you ignored him for a week from whatever silly little fight you two had! Now be a man and resolve things!”
The nine-year-old goes back to being confused. “What fight? I didn’t fight with Mydei last week.”
Eurypon is at his wit’s end. “Why else would he be mopey all week? He cries himself to sleep every night hugging that dumb plushie you gave him while calling your name!”
A brush of red covers the rascal’s cheeks. “He calls out for me?” he asks in awe.
“I’m sorry sir, I swear I didn’t know! I was only gone for a week to help with the harvest back in Aedes Elysiae. I didn’t know he would miss me this much.”
Now it’s Eurypon’s turn to be confused. “The harvest? You stopped coming over for a week because of a harvest? …Not because you two got into a friendship-ending fight?”
Maybe he really should unmute that group chat with the Khaslanas.
“Of course not!” the brat sounds offended. “Why would I fight with Mydei?” He pauses. “Unless he wants to.”
Eurypon swallows. That sounds awfully like an answer he would give about his wife. He decides not to pursue that train of thought and focus on the task at hand.“So you will follow me to see my son?”
“Sure! I was going to see him at school anyways but I would love to see him sooner. I missed him too!” He says the last part far more fondly than Eurypon would’ve liked. “Let me go ask my parents first. I’ll be right back!”
And so, Eurypon had to endure a dreadful car ride with the nine-year-old yapping about his trip to the countryside and recounting his experience milking a cow.
All of this is worth it to see his son’s face light up like it’s Christmas.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Mydeimos gets his first love letter at age twelve.
Eurypon finds out while hiding in the walk-in-closet of his son’s room. He initially came in to drop off the new coat he found for his Little Lion but decided to eavesdrop when he caught word of their conversation.
At first Eurypon is enraged by the news. His Mydeimos is far too young to think about romantic interest. He hasn’t even gone through puberty yet!
Then, he sees the brat’s reaction to the love letter and thinks his son having a suitor may not be such a bad thing after all.
After they turned double digits, the white haired scoundrel dropped all pretenses and made it abundantly clear he was in love with his son. He would abuse his best friend privileges and always get touchy-touchy with Mydeimos.
He insists they still sleep in the same bed for sleepovers at their grown age while Eurypon wants him out of the house. They compromise and let him stay on an air mattress in Mydei’s room, only for the little trickster to climb into bed with Mydei anyways.
He would give his son longing stares when he thinks no one is watching (Eurypon is always watching). He once pocketed a napkin that his son wiped his mouth with and Eurypon was too weirded out to supervise them for days.
Eurypon thinks the brat’s karma is finally catching up with him as he watches him seeth in jealousy while his son carefully reads through the letter of love.
“What’s the point of reading the letter? You’re going to reject them anyways,” the brat says, hoping his son would agree.
“They took the time to write the letter for me, the least I can do is read the whole thing even if I don’t reciprocate their feelings,” Mydeimos responds, spoken like a true gentleman.
The brat frowns, the room smelling a lot more sour.
“So? What’s your answer?” he asks when Mydeimos reaches the end of the letter.
“It’s from Rui. I don’t understand some of the theatre references he used, but the writing is very lovely,” Mydei observes.
Where had Eurypon heard that name before?
The brat purses his lips. “I always thought he and Tsu—”
Mydei cuts him off by holding up a ticket. “He invited me to the movies tomorrow after school. Said he would meet me by the school gates. I think I’ll go.”
“What?” the brat yelps.
Eurypon stumbles out of the closet. “What!?” he demands.
Mydei shoots up with an irritated glare. “Why were you hiding in my closet?”
“I got you a new coat. Now what did you say about agreeing to a movie date?”
Mydei rolls his eyes. “It’s not a date. We’re just going to see the movies.”
“I think inviting you out with a love letter makes it a date,” the brat notes. Eurypon for once agrees with him.
“You two are making a big deal out of nothing. I’ll just tell him it’s a friendly hangout and turn him down gently,” Mydei says naively.
His son with no romantic experience does not know about the dangers of this world. All it takes is one friendly hangout before the peer pressure kicks in and he’s caught in a full blown relationship. Eurypon must protect his naive son.
“Mydeimos, as your father I forbid you to go on this date!”
“Yeah Mydei, you should listen to your father and stay away from Rui. I don’t want you to get hurt because of him,” the brat warns.
Mydei tsked and shoved them out of his room.
“Don’t talk to me until you two stop being so weird about this.” He slams his door shut.
Eurypon is left standing next to an upset brat.
“Tell me, who is this Rui that’s courting my son?”
The brat sighs. “He’s a classmate who’s kinda famous in our school for inventing things that explode.”
Oh no. What do you mean his son is being pursued by a pyromaniac?
Now he remembers why his name sounded familiar. His business partner briefly mentioned his daughter, who attends an all girls school, somehow befriended someone from the same school as his son with a penchant for exploding things.
He knows his son is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, but that’s a whole bomb he’s dealing with.
Eurypon turns to face the brat and calls a temporary truce. “Meet me by the school gate after school tomorrow. We need to make sure my son does not go on that date.”
The brat nods solemnly.
He did not get much sleep that night. He also zoned out the entire morning and he might have accidentally allocated an extra zero to the funds for the development of Kremnos Inc.’s first gacha game. He sure hopes that investment brings in a profit.
At exactly 4 o’clock he sees the brat walking to the school gates and drags him to a conveniently planted bush.
“Where’s Mydeimos?” Eurypon asks.
“He’s still packing his bag.”
Eurypon nods in acknowledgement before focusing on a purple figure that’s approaching the gates. He memorised his face from the files he made his assistant fetch for him. He also knows the suitor’s strong dislike for vegetables and that’s another reason added to the list of why he wouldn’t be compatible with his son (the pyromaniac part is still top of the list).
A few minutes later Mydei exits the building and makes his way towards him.
“Just like we planned, the moment they start walking away together, you run up to Mydeimos and pretend you lost your friendship ring. He will definitely stop everything and help you search for it,” he instructs the brat.
“Yes, sir.”
Rui looked surprised when Mydei approached him. He must be honoured that his son decided to grace him with his presence. Mydeimos starts talking and the suitor proceeds to rub the back of his neck and bow.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Eurypon, in a moment of weakness, initiated conversation with the brat.
“He’s definitely confessing his love for Mydei and thanking him for the date,” Phainon grumbles. “Look how red his face turned!”
Then, something unexpected happens.
Mydei hands his ticket to Rui. Rui bows one last time and heads back towards the school building. Meanwhile, Mydei is beelining towards the bushes where they were hiding.
“You two need to work on your hiding skills,” Mydei tells them.
“What happened? Why did Rui leave?” The brat excitedly bounces towards his son and glomps him.
Normally Eurypon would break the two apart but hearing the explanation is his top priority.
“He apologised. The letter was meant for Tsukasa. Rui’s still working on facial recognition for his delivery bot. There’s two people in the class that have blonde hair with orange tips,” Mydei shrugs.
Oh thank Nikador. His son isn’t going on his first date today after all.
In the distance, they hear the sound of an explosion followed by a loud voice yelling “RUIIIIII!”
Eurypon’s opinion of the brat is still iffy, but he realises his son could have worse choices in companions.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
“I think I’m in love with Phainon,” Mydeimos announces unceremoniously in the middle of family dinner.
Eurypon’s silverware clatter onto the ground and he stares at his son with utter horror.
“That’s nice, Little Lion. Would you like another lobster tail?” His wife breezes past his son’s confession as if he had just told them the sky is blue.
“Yes please, Mother.” Mydei holds out his plate with a faint smile on his face.
The scene in front of him is pure domesticity, the happy family he built his empire to support. All of this is about to come tumbling down because his son chose an inferior mongrel as his partner.
He has to stop this.
Eurypon clears his throat in preparation for a very vocal screaming match when his wife silences him with a deadly glare.
Her warning is clear—do not interfere.
He shuts up and stuff his mouth with the delicious dinner spread his son prepared for them. The taste is tainted by the knowledge that the hard work Mydeimos put into cooking is to butter them up for his abhorrent announcement.
Eurypon is trying his best (and failing) to not lose his shit.
This has been a recurring nightmare since the two met in kindergarten that only started to phase out once his son stopped letting the brat kiss him whenever he pleased (when they turned seven and all the children teased each other about cooties), and still it makes its reappearance every few months when Eurypon lets his guard down.
He’s been plagued by the morsel of a possibility that one day his son would make the awful decision of following through with a childish promise and actually marry that brat.
Seeing his nightmare come to life… He needs a drink.
He orders Krateros to retrieve the strongest brew they have on hand.
“Son, you know I love you right?” Eurypon chokes out after his fifth shot.
Mydei raises a brow at his father’s sudden words of affection.
“Father, I think you had too much to drink…”
Eurypon downs another shot and weeps into his glass. “If you end up homeless because that bum can’t afford to sustain your lavish lifestyle, you can always come back to us.”
“...Thank you?”
When Eurypon sombers up in the morning, he spends the entire day scouting the socialites of Amphoreus (he doesn’t want his son to marry too far from home).
He makes it his mission for the next few months to approach business partners with children of eligible age and arrange for dinners, brunch, golfing, anything to get his son to interact with trust fund kids who can inherit their parent’s wealth so Mydeimos is not stuck renting an one-bedroom apartment in the name of love.
He frames it as training his son to navigate the social circle in preparation of when he will inherit the family fortune but Mydeimos sees right through him after a few miserable dinners. After that, he had to bring the brat along to guarantee his son’s attendance.
Maybe this would be the chance for a Cinderella story to happen and one of the rich heirs would take interest in the brat. His hope was dashed when the brat clinged to Mydeimos like a lost puppy and the two ostracized the rest of the children.
Eurypon was about to ditch the socials all together when miraculously the thirteen-year-old brat was able to secure him a future partnership with a notoriously picky distributor using his extensive knowledge of Amphoreus’ ancient tunnel system.
He thought it was a fluke, but during the next business dinner, the brat and his son tag-team to reduce a grown man to tears when they debated about the right type of tomato to use in pasta sauce.
“Honestly, how do you own several successful high-end franchises when you lack basic culinary understandings?”
“So you call yourself a chef? Name the three fundamentals when it comes to seasoning chicken.”
Rumour has it that the chef took a month’s break to reinvent himself.
Eurypon is less resistant to bringing the brat along for social events after discovering his natural talent for debates and bartering.
Perhaps he can mold him as Mydeimos right-hand-man and the two can hold a monopoly on Amphoreus together.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
A year.
It took one full year of his son pining after the brat for Mydeimos to finally gather his courage and do something about his crush.
In Eurypon’s humble opinion, fourteen is far too young to start courtship. So why the hell is the school encouraging this behaviour by throwing an extravagant ball?
Despite raising his concerns at the PTA meetings, his protests were ignored and the committee even requested they host the dance at one of his venues. Eurypon agreed under the condition that he be made one of the chaperones for that evening.
He knew his son was planning on asking the brat to the dance and Nikador forbid they do something unholy if he’s not there to keep them in line.
Eurypon is conflicted.
On one hand, he still doesn’t approve of the brat and thinks there’s plenty of better, richer prey in the savanna for his Little Lion to hunt. On the other, it was getting pitiful walking into the living room and seeing his son huddled into his wife’s arms as he recounts how Phainon's smile makes him want to hurl himself into the sun.
He can already imagine how sickening they would be once they get together. For reference, they were already blushing like crazy while exchanging Valentine’s chocolate by the school gate. Eurypon got fed up waiting in the car and honked to end the five minute hug they got entangled into.
Or one time, he had the misfortune of witnessing his son be the little spoon when he entered the bedroom to beckon them to dinner. The brat was full on groping Mydeimos’ ass and Eurypon would’ve reached for his hunting rifle had it not been for his son waking and telling him to leave them alone.
This morning he wakes in a foul mood. Today is the day his son plans on asking out the brat to the dance.
Mydeimos shows up to breakfast with a freshly styled mane. Over the years he went from the adorable little kitten that sometimes got mistaken as a girl to bulking up in his early teens. He now has defined muscles thanks to his healthy eating habits and active lifestyle.
To think, this gem of a son is going to get stolen by a stray dog.
“Father, are my flowers ready?”
“Yes,” Eurypon replies with dismay. “I left them in the vase. Your mother also left some ribbons for you to arrange with.”
A few years ago, his son came asking for his assistance with a pack of seeds for Hyacinths because that was a special flower for the pair of friends. Now, they bloomed just in time for Mydeimos’ confession.
Tugging into the back of the limousine, his son clutched the yellow and purple bouquet and shyly asks if he thinks Phainon will say yes.
This gives Eurypon all the more reason to worry about his precious son. How did he not see the hungry look his best friend had been sending him when he entered his line of sight? That brat has been lusting after his son for so long yet his sweet oblivious child missed every instance of it.
Mydeimos is second-guessing himself and rambling about how he doesn’t want to ruin the friendship if things get awkward after Phainon rejects him. Meanwhile Eurypon debates telling him that the reason why he doesn’t have any suitor is because the possessive brat keeps cornering them after school and scaring them off (one went even as far as to do an exchange program in Belobog to get away).
Eurypon pretends to drive off when his son exits the car. He tells the chauffeur to park a street away and he sprints back to witness his son’s first ever confession.
He starts the video just in time to capture his son’s rehearsed confession and the brat cutting him off with a kiss on the lips. Eurypon tries to not let the pained sobs ruin the video he has to forward to his wife.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Eurypon stops calling Phainon “the brat” when he’s fifteen.
His heart is left in a sporadic state after he received a call from the hospital alerting him that his son had been involved in an altercation. He blitzed through all the yellow lights and ignored all the honks on his way.
“Where’s my son?” His frantic demand is met by a nurse who guides him to a private room.
To his relief, his son is not the one lying in the hospital bed. Instead, he’s sitting by the bedside with red rimmed eyes and desperately clutching the hands of the unconscious boy.
Sensing his presence, his son glances up with a lost, guilty expression. He looks so small that Eurypon can’t help but lunge forwards and wrap him in a tight hug.
“Are you hurt?” he asks. He spots some bruising on his son’s face but nothing serious as far as he can tell.
“It’s my fault,” his son chokes out. “They were after me but this reckless idiot jumped in front of the knife. The doctors said we’re lucky it didn’t puncture any of his vitals but he’s still hurt because of me and I—I don’t know what—”
Eurypon shushes him and gently combs through his hair, a gesture he’s seen his wife do many times.
“It’s selfish of me, but I’m glad you’re not the one lying in that bed,” Eurypon states with brutal honesty.
His son squirms. “Now’s not the time—”
“I’m sure Phainon thinks that way as well. It would be more painful to see you hurt and lying in that bed.”
Mydeimos eyes him wearily. “What gives you the right to speak on behalf of him?”
“Because I would’ve done the same for you and your mother if I were in that situation. Because he loves you dearly and that’s why he took that knife for you.”
He allows himself to voice the truth he has known for ages but refuses to admit. Phainon is in love with his son, and it’s time for Eurypon to let go.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better. He’s still hurt because of me,” Mydei bemoans.
Eurypon finds it in the goodness of his heart to do Phainon a favour. “That just means you need to take good care of him until he recovers. He can stay with us while you nurse him back to health, if his parents permit it.”
At his words, a spark of life gleamed in his son’s eyes as he dove for his phone and started browsing recipes.
Eurypon reaches for his phone as well and finally unblocks the group chat with his future in-laws.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Eurypon had his fair share of catching his son and his boyfriend with their tongue down each other’s throats over the years. Every time he does, he stares at them until they awkwardly break apart.
After the whole knife incident, he had plenty of time to warm up to the idea of having Phainon as his future son-in-law. So now, when he separates the pair, it’s not out of disapproval, but because he thinks it’s funny seeing Phainon look like a deer caught in headlights.
He would be a hypocrite to stop his son from being a horny teenager when he and Gorgo had their own fair share of romantic escapades at seventeen.
Yet, nothing could've prepared him to walk into their family’s library, a room of sacred knowledge, and see his son pinned against the table and mounted from behind by his boyfriend.
Eurypon slams the door shut and counts to five before reopening. He’s met with the same view, albeit with the figure towering over his son looking way more panicked.
“We’re just…wrestling,” Phainon sputters. Despite being as red as an apple from his family’s farm, Phainon held his position.
His son does not bother looking embarrassed. “Weren’t you supposed to be away on a business trip until Sunday?” Mydeimos questions, making it seem like it was his fault for interrupting.
“Yes. I wrapped up the negotiations early so I can come home to my loving family. Weren’t you supposed to be tutored for math?”
“We moved on to studying anatomy,” his son bluntly states.
“I can see that…” Eurypon sighs exasperated. “Are you two using protection at least?”
The silence speaks volumes.
The vision of little white haired children running amok almost sends Eurypon into cardiac arrest.
“Please don’t get pregnant until after marriage. I’m not ready to be a grandfather yet.” Eurypon pleads to Nikador that Phainon has not yet nutted in his son.
“I’m on birth control,” Mydeimos reassures him. “I never let him finish inside me without it.”
“Mydei!” Phainon whines, appalled by his son’s oversharing.
Eurypon doesn’t know whether he should praise his son for his foresight or scream at the implications that Phainon routinely fills his son with his seed.
What he does know is that he needs a drink. Desperately. But not before he gives a final warning.
“Don’t overindulge on sexual activities, too much can be harmful to the body.” He doesn’t know how convincing he sounds when he’s still dealing with the aftershock of catching his son in the middle of receiving backshots.
Phainon nods. Mydeimos glares at him as if to say “why aren’t you leaving yet?”
Clearly not wanted here, Eurypon excuses himself and lets the boys get back to “studying”. He graciously accepts the drink poured by Krateros and seeks his wife for comfort.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
“...and that is why I would be grateful if I could get the family rings.” Mydeimos concludes his heartfelt speech about why he thinks him and Phainon are ready to take the next step. He asked them for their blessing and the family rings that get passed from generation to generation.
His son, after moving out and living with Phainon for their first year of university, is already planning on getting engaged. He knows they are childhood sweethearts and they won’t find a more perfect match for each other, but it’s still difficult to accept that his son is ready to start his own family.
“Of course you have our blessing, Little Lion,” Gorgo coos. “Although would it be possible for you to delay the proposal by another week? Audata and I have an on-going bet, and you know how competitive I can get.”
“I’ll give you the rings after a week,” Gorgo smiles without drawing Mydeimos’ suspicion.
They discuss details of the proposal for the rest of the dinner.
As soon as they send off Mydeimos with the chauffeur, Eurypon makes an urgent call.
The call goes through after the first ring.
“Hel—”
“You need to propose to my son within a week,” Eurypon curtly demands.
He can hear the phone being dropped on the other end of the line.
After a moment, Phainon speaks. “Erm, I don’t think I heard you correctly sir, could you—”
Eurypon repeats himself.
“He asked us for the family ring, which we don’t have. So if you don’t want your surprise to be ruined, propose to him by the end of this week.”
Eurypon hangs up the phone.
This sticky situation is Phainon’s own doing.
A few years ago, he asked for their blessing and requested the family rings to be used when he eventually proposed to Mydei. They agreed on the condition that Phainon had to graduate at the top of the class and become the valedictorian.
Mydeimos had grumbled when he got dethroned from the top spot. The rings had been in Phainon’s possession ever since.
He almost feels pity for Phainon. A week to plan the perfect proposal for his son is a tall task. That being said, Eurypon will personally eviscerate Phainon if his son gets a lackluster proposal.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Phainon is utterly screwed.
It’s been three days since he’s been told he had to propose to Mydei before the end of the week and he can’t think of anything.
Taking him to a fancy dinner seemed too cliche and the food would not live up to Mydei’s own cuisine. But having a romantic candle lit dinner at home is too low-effort for the heir of the Kremnos empire.
It isn’t until he’s lamenting about his dilemma over a study session with Castorice that she gave him a brilliant idea.
“Why don’t you recreate your first proposal? Sounds like you two had a meet-cute.”
And so, Phainon gathered their entire friend group and brought them to a boxing ring on a Friday night with the intention of having them witness their legendary fight before he drops to one knee and proposes.
The harsh reality is he gets knocked out in one punch by a skeptical Mydei after Phainon begs him to punch him.
In hindsight, he should’ve seen this happening. Mydei was winning national championships for boxing in high school while Phainon was ragebaiting his opponents in debate club.
When Phainon wakes up and finds himself resting on Mydei’s lap, he thanks Kephale for whatever he must’ve done in his past life to deserve such a lovely boyfriend.
“Wow Mydei, you really know how to throw your punches!”
His boyfriend looks down at Phainon like he’s stupid. “You sure know how to take a punch,” putting the emphasis on the singular punch that took Phainon down.
Phainon will never live it down.
“Haha, that just means you need to teach me your moves,” he grabs his boyfriend’s hand and smooches it.
Mydei lets out a huff. “You’re lucky Hyacine said you didn’t hit your head.”
Phainon blinks. “Speaking of Hyacine, where is everyone?”
“They got bored of waiting for you to wake up and left an hour ago.”
That meant he had been using Mydei as a lap pillow for more than an hour. Sweet.
“Aww, I’d hope they could’ve been our witness for…” Phainon trails off, not wanting to give away the surprise.
Per the reflex he developed from rehearsal, he reached for his pocket and internally panicked when he didn’t feel the small velvet box he distinctly remembered having before he fell unconscious.
The panic must have shown on his face.
Mydei flicks his forehead and shoots him a smug grin. “Looking for this?” asks as he holds up the missing box.
“It tumbled out of your pocket when you hit the ground,” his boyfriend mused.
Phainon pouts. Why must the universe be against him?
“I don’t suppose you can pretend you didn’t see it?”
“Why? So you can give it to me after I knock you out again?” Mydei teases.
Phainon groans and tries to bury himself into Mydei’s stomach. Bad idea because his nose bumps into those rock hard abs that Phainon often loves to stroke.
“I was only trying to follow the Kremnoan traditions,” Phainon mumbles. He jabs a finger into those sculpted abs.
Mydei’s gaze softens. “Then give me your hand, so I can follow the Aedes Elysian way.”
Phainon jolts upwards and nearly collides with Mydei’s jaw. He eagerly takes hold of Mydei’s hands.
“Does that mean you’ll say yes?” He presses his face closer until he’s an inch away from Mydei’s lips.
Mydei pretends to think about it. “Depends on how good the locker room sex is,” he answers before closing the distance between them.
The next morning, Phainon princess carries Mydei out of the locker room, a shiny ring newly added to his fiance’s ring finger. Thank god he reserved a private gym owned by Kremnos Inc., otherwise he’d have to break into the management’s office to wipe the cams.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
Eurypon opens the most expensive wine he has on hand. One would say seven in the morning is far too early to start drinking, but Eurypon needs a bit of alcohol in his system if he were to survive the day.
Today is the day his prized cabbage gets taken by a swine. It seems just like yesterday when he had planted the seed that would eventually grow to be a ten pound baby (yes, his Little Lion was a chubby newborn).
He watches as his one and only son gets changed into a crimson red tuxedo to be married off. Eurypon holds back tears as he watches his wife style his son’s hair.
He leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead, just as he had done for Mydeimos’ first day of kindergarten. Then, he excuses himself to go puke in the washroom. He probably should’ve eaten breakfast before downing half a bottle of wine.
Eurypon does a good job composing himself for the rest of the day. Until it comes time for him to walk his son down the aisle.
The dam breaks and all the waterworks start flooding in.
He mutters one final threat to the groom before he leaves his son in Phainon’s hands. Even with his blurry vision, he can tell the red pairs well with the blue, the specific shade chosen by his son to match his favourite pair of eyes.
They exchange their vows and Eurypon thought it was a tad bit dramatic for his son to promise to spend an eternity together, even if they have to endure millions of cycles (apparently this was a nod to his company’s gacha game that they both adored).
Then, as the officiant gave the go-ahead to kiss, he heard an audible “Yipee” slip from his son-in-law. The next moment, the two are at each other like animals in heat.
He watches as Phainon shoves his tongue down his son’s throat as if he’s a starved anteater probing their prey. The audience is stunlocked into watching this unnecessary sex scene of a movie until the two leads break apart ten minutes later after they were informed about being behind on schedule.
Eurypon, accepting his wife’s outstretched handkerchief, begrudgingly admits this was the second best wedding he’s attended.
With how chaotic the wedding wrapped, Eurypon thought the reception dinner would be relatively normal compared to it.
He was wrong.
Projected on all available screens is an hour-long video documenting the couple’s love story where Eurypon finds out for the first time how Phainon actually proposed and gets enraged on his son’s behalf that he didn’t even ask the question properly.
“How did they get all that footage? They even have videos from that kindergarten play where Mydeimos starred as Sleeping Beauty,” Eurypon notes with a tinge of fear.
“You’d be surprised how many security cameras are owned by Aglaea’s company,” Gorgo reveals.
After the video, the dancing chimeras became the new dinner entertainment. Eurypon felt bad for whoever got hired to act out the newly-wed’s fursonas. He’s not sure if the white one humping the orange one was part of the choreography or if it’s all improv.
Then, a tipsy Phainon started mimicking the dance, shaking his hips very badly to woo his son. Not waiting to see if the mating dance worked, he beelined towards the open bar.
˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗
By some miracle, his son didn’t get pregnant until after he graduated with honours from his degree. Being parents in their earlier twenties is much more acceptable than the teen pregnancies that Eurypon was fearing.
What isn’t acceptable is that nine months in Mydeimos’ womb and the baby comes out looking like his stupid father.
The baby stares at him with his big blue eyes, Eurypon wasted no time in telling his bank to set up a trust fund for his grandson.
Then, a few months later, his son awkwardly sits them down during their weekly family brunch and shares the news that they are expecting again. Eurypon holds Phainon at (butter)knife point and tells him to get off his son.
Months later, they welcome two more white-haired blue-eyed boys to the family. Eurypon laments the fact that Mydeimos’ genes didn’t bother putting up a fight.
A few years after that, the couple decides to try one final time (Phainon spent months begging because he wanted to see a Mini-Mydei running around). This time, they welcome a baby girl with strawberry blonde hair.
She grows up to the splitting image of Mydeimos. Eurypon is fully prepared to transfer his entire empire under her name.
One day, Eurypon is tasked to bring his grandchildren to school. After dropping the boys off at elementary school, he escorts his little princess to her kindergarten class.
The moment she walks through the door, a puppy-looking toddler bounces up to her.
No.
Not again.
Eurypon sinks to his knees and mourns another cabbage lost to a swine. The cycle repeats.