Batty
“And then this teeny tiny child steps from the gate and how else am I supposed to react?” Lilia pleaded, glancing between his sons. Things were going well, better than he could’ve hoped really, even with his sons’ visible anger. After the whole “pregnancy” thing, he’d started to explain how exactly he’d met the boy and why the Diasomnia first years had been guided to the dorm by one of his familiars.
Malleus stared at him with disappointment in his eyes and a long finger tapped away at his crossed arms. Silver, meanwhile, wouldn’t look at him. He’d turned his back the moment Lilia had mentioned potentially adopting a new child. Lilia gazed at his son’s tense back and raised shoulders with a helpless frown. Helplessness was an emotion he was very familiar with, but he never grew used to it. His ears drooped low, hands squeezing each other in his lap.
He wanted them to accept the child. He wanted it so desperately his heart ached. He wanted to hear that little boy laugh and perhaps even one day call him Father like Silver did. His heart throbbed in his chest, sending a jolt of pain and longing through him. He wanted the chaos of a youngling in his house again. Being a father was hard, harder than he’d ever thought it would be, but he loved it. He loved his boys so, so, so very much. They were the greatest things in his life. They were the ones that made him want to live.
“He was injured and so very brave,” he hunched into himself as he envisioned that tiny boy raising a sword far too large for him, “the moment he saw us he raised this sword- and the way he looked. He was so scared. He thought he was going to die. He was dying. He still is. He thought we were going to kill him.”
Lilia sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He let himself breathe, swallowing around the lump in his throat. It had been a long night. The longest he’d had in decades. The war kept creeping back into his mind like an infection. He tried holding himself together as best he could, but his hands still shook.
“A child thought I was going to kill him.” His voice trembled and he felt the bed dip beside him. He tilted sideways, wavering between staying as he was and leaning against his boy. He didn’t know if the touch would be welcome. They had very rarely quarreled but the times they had had been explosive.
Malleus’ magic engulfed him, dark and deep and heavy as it pressed against him. Lilia sagged against him, feeling as shaky and weak as a newborn. He liked scaring people, loved the thrill of it, but he hated the terror that had looked back at him from the child’s eyes. His mind kept replacing it with the terrified faces of soldiers and civilians. The scent of blood was accompanied by fire and ash and the screams of those he’d slaughtered. He’d done what he had to to protect his home and he didn’t regret it. He rarely regretted the people he’d killed, but there were some that haunted him still. Time had done much to dull the memories but that just left room for his mind to torment him and the mind could be crueler than any enemy.
“Why, Father?” Silver’s voice broke him from the clawed grip of his memories. He looked up at his son and then away again.
“Why what, Silver,” He asked, exhausted in a way he hadn’t felt in so long. He only had enough presence of mind to be thankful none of them had started yelling yet. He didn’t think he’d be able to act rationally if any of them had. His boys were tight and controlled despite their emotions though and he hated that they had to watch themselves like that around him.
“I understand wanting to help, but to adopt him? Father, why? You’ve known this child for less than a day; why would you want to commit yourself to him so quickly?”
Ah. Yes, that was a valid question, especially from a human point of view. He forgot sometimes that Silver wasn’t Fae yet. He may have been raised among their people and their values but it would take more than that for him to understand the instincts that ran through their blood. Silver could be just as vengeful as any Fae when given sufficient motivation, but most of the time he was gentle and human.
Even his own people didn’t typically get attached so quickly. Oh, they may take a child in, aid them, but that under no circumstance meant they’d take them as their own. Lilia had never thought himself to be capable of raising children when he was young. That belief had been thoroughly shattered when Maleanor gave him Malleus’ egg.
“I had not intended to,” he looked at Malleus but his first son didn’t look at him, even as he listened intently, “I had simply wanted to ease his pain, but,” and here he couldn’t help the utterly smitten smile that crept up on him, “he’s perfect.”
Complete and utter adoration pushed its way up from his chest and he squeezed Malleus’ bicep with a giddy smile. Malleus looked at him then and rolled his eyes skyward.
“I doubt that highly, Lilia.”
He giggled exhaustedly and ran a hand through his hair, casting a searching look at Silver. His second son stood with his arms crossed, a foot tapping irately. Ah, he was pushing him, but Lilia couldn’t help it. He could get Silver to see the perfection that lay in that tiny little boy. He had to.
“I intended to ease his pain.” he continued where he left off, “but you know how I am with healing magic. I managed to calm him enough to get him to let me close enough to get the blade from him and then he just…fell apart. He collapsed and, of course, I caught him. I didn’t know just how close he was to death until I got my hands on him. I doubted he’d make it long enough for Dire to retrieve the emergency responders.”
His shoulders dropped but he kept his smile as he reminded himself of that brave child clinging to life. He wanted to get back to the hospital, to hell with the visitation hours. He wanted to return before the boy woke up.
Silver’s eyebrows furrowed, his tapping foot coming to a stop. Lilia waited, watching. Sometimes Silver needed a moment to think, to sort everything out in his head before he spoke and that was just fine by Lilia. Malleus would ask his questions once he was done explaining, as his first son was wont to do.
“Were his injuries truly so bad,” Silver asked quietly, lips pursed.
It was at times like these he was reminded of just how young his sons were. Neither of them could understand why a child would be harmed to such an extent. Even Malleus, with all of his 177 years of life, couldn’t understand it. They were so young and innocent still. If he was being clear with himself, Lilia was glad for that naivety. His boys weren’t tainted by the world yet and he was glad for it.
“He was dying in my arms, Silver. I could feel him bleeding away,” Lilia watched as his son’s face crumbled. Guilt gnawed at him for ruining that bit of innocence. He was under no illusion that Silver believed children couldn’t be harmed, but it's one thing to know intellectually and another to be faced with that suffering personally.
“And those that harmed him?” Malleus spoke up, his voice deep, a rumble building. Lilia placed a hand on the nape of his neck, squeezing lightly, and he calmed. Malleus was slow to anger, astonishingly, but even he had sore subjects. Injustice being one of them, particularly that against children. Lilia suspected it came from helping raise Silver and Sebek. Then again Revan had been an utter wimp when it came to kids. Malleus would’ve been so spoiled. Not that Lilia hadn’t spoiled the hell out of him, but Revan would’ve spoiled him absolutely rotten.
“I know not of what became of them. However, the child bore a puncture wound from a fang and held a thoroughly bloodied sword.”
He needed to get that sword back from Dire before the boy awoke. The boy had had a fang in hand in the mirror room. Had he ripped it out of his own arm? Lilia’s teeth ground together in a feral smile. What an absolute savage. He loved it. The pain tolerance required to do such a thing and continue to fight. Lilia hummed low even as a faint sense of pride lit up inside him. Potential, the boy had potential. Potential Lilia would adore nurturing if his boys allowed him, and he dearly hoped they would.
“An animal attack?” Silver asked but Lilia was already shaking his head.
“No, I don’t believe so,” He leaned further against Malleus, “Given his reaction when he saw the rest of the staff-”
“It was set upon him,” Malleus finished his thought.
Lilia hummed a soft tune, echoed by his first son. He loved his kids. They were so damn smart. Too smart, the little brats. They were coming around, he could feel it. That boy was going to be his, if he had to burn the human government to the ground then so be it. Malleus would help him. Now he just had to get Silver on board.
“So what do we do?” Silver asked finally, looking up, his eyes glinting like steel.
An elated grin split his face in half. That was two out of three! Silver and Malleus were dealt with then. Now to figure out how to deal with the humans. That would be the boring part though. He could push it off a bit longer.
“Tell us of him, Lilia,” Malleus commanded, and it was a command, but Lilia was too happy to do anything other than pinch him lightly.
The boy was going to be his. His sons had yet to accept him, Lilia wasn’t foolish enough to think they had, but it was a step forward.
“ Oh, he’s perfect -”
“So you’ve said,” Silver interrupted.
“Oh shush you,” Lilia bounced off the bed, his feet leaving the ground, “He has wild curly black hair and the brightest purest green eyes. Malleus, by Mab, you’re going to be positively enraptured when you see them. They’re like uncut jewels.”
He spun around, feet glancing along his carpet. He danced around Silver, joyous energy filling him. He wrapped his arms around Silver’s neck, floating up to nuzzle his boy’s hair.
Hard the night had been, but it was glorious. A new son was in his grasp and his boys were at the least amenable to the addition. He couldn’t contain the excitement. His veins buzzed with endless energy. He had so much to do but the hardest bit had been done. His heart twisted delightfully as he buried his nose in his second son’s hair, taking in breath after breath of Silver’s dewy forest-like scent. He threw his head back with a shrieking laugh, unable to contain himself, locking eyes with Malleus with wide eyes and a wider smile.
“You won’t believe this! He didn’t recognize me!” He let go of Silver to float up to the ceiling, grabbing hold of the beams that crossed the space, he flipped himself upside down and hooked his legs over a beam.
“Lilia, very few humans recognize you,” Malleus said with a fond smile, as faint as it was.
That was true but it wasn’t the point.
“No, I mean he didn’t know I was Fae. He stared at my ears almost the entire time! I thought there was a bat in my hair,” he giggled as one of his familiars crawled down his chest, another three working their way down his legs while another flew into his hair.
Silver sat down next to Malleus, looking up with a confused frown. Malleus placed an arm around his shoulders, drawing him closer. Clearly, he hadn’t wanted Lilia to leave his grasp so soon. Silver looked at Malleus’ arm resigned, but Lilia knew his son loved it when Malleus showed his affection.
“He didn’t know you were Fae? How? I thought every country had regulations warning against us,” Silver muttered the last part, well aware the two of them would hear him, but neither corrected him. Lilia, for his part, thought it was adorable that Silver considered himself one of them. It wasn’t like Silver wouldn’t become Fae eventually either. Once he was ready of course. Lilia could wait, no matter how much it itched.
“I don’t think he doesn’t know about Fae, he’s quite the clever boy, but I think those he’s familiar with are different in some manner.”
He grinned as one of his bats, one of the new fledglings, crawled onto his face. Little gremlin, that one. Its mother chittered admonishments at it, but it paid her no mind as it chirped at him, little head tilting to look him in the eye.
“I played with him a bit-”
“ Father,” Silver interrupted again and this time Lilia gave him a warning look. He got a pout in return but Silver didn’t continue.
“I wasn’t cruel. Honestly, what do you take me for? No, of course, I did it for a reason. I wanted to see how he reacted to our typical antics. I wasn’t going to even consider taking him as a ward if he couldn’t handle a little fun. I’m not that irresponsible.”
The fledgling licked at his nose and the mother let out a scandalized shriek. The others chittered, one dropping off of him to go gossip with the others hidden around campus. Soon enough, all of his familiars would know about the little fledgling daring to lick their master.
“I simply returned the sentiment. He asked me what I was so I asked for what he was in exchange,” He said brightly as he brought a finger to the little fledgling’s head, petting her gently. Her fluffy little head nuzzled up into his finger, letting out little squeaks all the while. He hoped the child would like his bats. His little ones tended to cuddle up with Silver and Malleus when he wasn’t there and they’d no doubt do the same with his newest.
“And what was his response?” Malleus asked, crossing one leg over the other, bringing Silver even closer to him. All the talk of hurt children must’ve triggered something in him. Or perhaps he was just feeling particularly cuddly, one could never know with dragons.
“Well, he took quite a while. I’m quite pleased by his answer, however,” he waited a moment, letting the tension build before he continued, “He said he was an orphan.”
Malleus let out a groan that bordered on a snarl, judgment lurking in every line of his face. He glared up at him, an ear twitching in annoyance. Lilia was positive he could see the gleeful tilt to his smile. The boy was an orphan, which meant he was free for the taking, and that meant Lilia could take him, and the only ones that would find issue with it were the human governments.
“Lilia, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”
Silver was giving him an equally judgmental deadpanned look. Really, what had he done to deserve this distrust? He fed them, he sent them to school, he got them new siblings to play with. Personally, he felt like he was being judged far too harshly.
“I’ve done nothing wrong to the boy. Where the two of you get this ill image of me I’ve no idea. I simply responded in kind.”
“ Lilia,” Malleus spoke low and slow, warningly. Lilia opted to pay attention to the little one on his face instead of his fuming son.
There was the beginning of fluffy red fur on her chest and collar. Her mother had hesitantly made her way onto Lilia’s shoulder, nearly taking up the entirety of his shoulder and chest as she shrieked at her obstinate offspring. She had the same red cape of fur around her shoulders and neck. One of his flying foxes then. Given her size, he’d say she was one of his golden crowned flying foxes. He didn’t have very many of them, only perhaps a dozen, preferring to favor the smaller species.
“ Lilia,” Malleus repeated louder, harsher, and Lilia begrudgingly pouted down at him. Now with Lilia’s attention, Malleus continued, “What have you done?”
Lilia huffed, blowing out chilly air over the little one who let out a delighted squeal as she was lifted up. Her mother boomed out a cracking click, demanding her daughter return to her. The fledgling, predictably, ignored her.
“I’ve done nothing wrong, Malleus. I simply gave him a Name in exchange,” he avoided the question, knowing damn well Malleus would get irritated with him, but oh well. He didn’t feel like getting harassed just because he’d decided to repay the child, as is proper, for such valuable information.
“Which one?” Malleus ground out through clenched teeth.
He truly hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d stand by that. His sons may not agree with him, but he’d only been doing what was right and if sharing his Name with the boy aided him in taking possession of him then that was just a bonus. Besides, Lilia was the parent here.
“I didn’t hurt him.”
Malleus raised an eyebrow. Lilia did not appreciate his skepticism. It didn’t help that Silver had buried his face in his hands, one hand tugging at his hair. Lilia frowned and jerked his head to the side, gesturing for Malleus to handle Silver. Malleus narrowed his eyes but obeyed, turning to gently untangle Silver’s hand from his hair. Lilia was surprised Silver had lasted so long without falling asleep, but clearly, the stress was getting to him.
Lilia sighed, “I didn’t intentionally harm the boy. My Name overwhelmed him for a short period, but he was more than fine afterward. Now, Malleus, why don’t you take your brother to bed, hmm? We can continue our conversation tomorrow.”
Malleus frowned at him again but one more look at Silver had him nodding. His first son stood slowly, scooping Silver up like he weighed nothing and to them he truly did. Silver grumbled indignantly but he was already falling to his curse. Sleep pulled his eyes low and each blink lasted longer and longer.
Lilia sighed as his sons left his room, the door closing with a final thud. Silence overtook his room and the tension in his shoulders finally drained away. Gently, so as not to disturb his bats, he let go of the beam and drifted down to the floor. He flipped, landing gently on his feet. The little bat on his face squeaked questioningly at him and he clicked back at her. Her mother buried her face in his neck, seemingly overcome with embarrassment.
His other familiars snickered and heckled her, all while egging the fledgling on. With a soft smile, Lilia strode over to his desk, picking up a spoon and a squeeze bottle. With a deft hand, He scooped the little one off his face. She squealed excitedly, little thumbs hooking around his thumb, licking at his fingers affectionately.
Lilia laughed softly at the ticklish feeling as he filled the spoon with sugar water. The mother clicked irritably at him, warning him not to spoil her troublesome pup. Children deserved to be spoiled, however, so Lilia gleefully ignored her.
“You, little one, are going to be a handful when you grow up,” he muttered as he lifted his spoon to her. The licking at his thumb instantly stopped, replaced with high joyous chirps and purrs as the fledgling lapped at the nectar.
Up above, his bats squeaked and clicked jealously. The adults only got nectar on checkup day or after a stressful mission. The pups, he spoiled rotten, especially the orphaned ones that had yet to be adopted by an adult in the colony.
Humming a song he couldn’t remember the lyrics to, Lilia reached his magic under his desk for his minifridge, taking out some precut pieces of watermelon. The pieces floated up to his shoulder.
“Here you go, dear. I bet you don’t get much time to yourself with this one keeping you busy.”
The mother clicked at him in a “you don’t even know the half of it” manner as she twisted around to munch on the cube of melon. He stifled a snicker when her cheeks puffed out, juice dripping down her face.
He smiled down at the little babe as she licked her sweet treat, big black eyes gazing adoringly up at him. To his bats, he was a god, a lord, their one and only master. Each and every one of them had known him since birth and he’d raised a good few of them by hand when they were rejected by the rest of the colony. It didn’t happen often that a pup was wholly rejected, usually only if there was an issue with the pup in question, and in that case, Lilia was the one who raised them. If they were unable to work his usual missions he handed out to the others, then he’d often find them a safe home with a colony that would accept them. There was a zoo in the Queendom of Roses that hosted a colony he’d set up of disabled bats of all different species, most of which were descendants of his familiars.
He took the opportunity to check the little one over for any obvious issues while she was being cooperative. The little ones were always a handful to get ahold of for their checkups. He often had to swaddle them in little blankets so he could give them their shots. Of course, each of them got treats afterward.
He spent a good while just watching his flying foxes eat. The pup would grow large, that was for sure. He was unsure of who her sire was, but her dam was quite the large specimen. Luckily, neither of them had any issues he could see or sense. Although, the mother had a bit of a calcium deficit. A good thing the pup was almost weaned. He’d have to get a mineral lick for them though. He was sure he had some calcium powder somewhere. He could keep her inside for a bit, keep an eye on her to make sure the deficit didn’t grow too bad. A bit of powder on her fruit should help quite a bit.
He usually had his bats hunt for their own food, but sometimes that just wasn’t possible. He usually kept a close eye on the pregnant females, giving them extra food and exams to make sure they were healthy.
He still had to call Cater. He couldn’t stop his smile from spreading even wider, gaining a chorus of shrieks from above. He had a friend. Granted he was human, or mostly human. He definitely had some Fae in him, what with his fangs. He’d say around a fourth or maybe a fifth.
“Alex,” He spoke up as clearly as he could and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, “call Number Four.”
His phone had barely even begun to ring before Cater picked up, as he always did. That kid was so addicted to his phone, though Lilia couldn’t say much in that regard. Mab knows Lilia spent far too much time playing games.
“Lilia, my guy, my bro, what’s up at,” there was a pause, “ 3:28 in the morning?”
Lilia rolled his eyes with a grin, “Don’t even try to act like you were sleeping. Boy, you would not believe the night I’ve had.”
There was the sound of shifting bedsheets and he knew Cater was getting ready for an epic gossip session. Plastic crinkled over the speaker and Lilia was glad he always used speaker phone instead of putting the thing to his ear.
“Spill the tea sis.”
He snickered, eyes crinkling. Oh, how he loved this new-age talking. Back when he was young everything was formal and stiff and maybe that was because he grew up in the castle, but he’d never had this kind of relaxed conversation. He could barely keep up with the changing trends and slang. It seemed to change every other month, but Cater kept him updated.
“So there I am, just chilling on the ceiling when I get absolutely bitch slapped by the smell of blood- oh before I forget, there’s a new student in your dorm I’m gonna prank the shit out of- but anyway we get everyone out and open this coffin and a fuckin’ baby walks out-”
“No shit!” Cater gasped dramatically, “Like baby baby or firstie that looks baby.”
Lilia crossed his legs, floating, “like an actual fucking baby. Like the kid’s barely a decade old and get this, he’s covered in blood. Drenched. And he’s got this glowing fucking sword.”
“Dude, wtf, like a lightsaber?”
“Nah, man, like that sword from that one elf movie you showed me,” He picked at his nail polish. He’d have to repaint them soon, maybe the next time the club met, even if the club was just him and Cater now.
“Dude, we should totally do our nails at our next meeting.”
“Oh frfr, I haven’t been able to paint mine in waaay too long. You know how my mom is.”
“A bitch?” Lilia snarked with a crooked grin. He would’ve stolen Cater last year if the kid hadn’t cut him off at the knees. He wanted his own revenge on his mother and Lilia was grown enough to respect that.
“More like a cunt, but hey I get that an old man like you might not want to use vulgar language.”
He laughed, accidentally startling the little one who looked up at him with wide startled eyes and a pouty face, her tongue halfway out. Lilia winced and clicked a soft apology at her.
“Brat, I’m the one that taught you half the curses you know.”
“Yeah. You’re a horrible influence on the younger generations. Honestly, what kind of adult are you?”
Lilia cringed at the sound of crunching from the other side of the call. Clearly, Cater was indulging in a little midnight snacking at the cost of his eardrums.
“Anyway, I’m adopting a new kid.”
Abruptly the sound of crunching was cut off by coughing and rapid pace rosalian curses. Lilia smiled smugly.
“Bro, seriously. What. The. Fuck.”
“Expect the unexpected, bitch.”