Trapeze Artist

Liu’s roasting marshmallows, because he feels like he deserves it. His body was sore from whatever Sully did to the Dursley’s, and he needed something to do other than stare at the baby. The baby. A baby girl. A baby he didn’t have before. Which implies that Sully, for a reason Liu didn’t understand, kidnapped a baby.

Well, ok, he sort of did understand. He could see the scars, the most notable one covering half her face. He could tell from the bits and pieces of memories Sully was letting him see that the Dursley’s were shit people who thought keeping infants in cupboards was ok. He could also see Puppeteer, which led to a different set of questions.

Yeah, Liu could see why Sully called Puppeteer. His first instinct when he realized they were going to keep the baby was ‘get Puppeteer here immediately’. But where was Puppeteer? Sully didn’t know either, so they were both stuck waiting. “Do you know where he went?” Liu muttered softly to the baby, who still wouldn’t let go of his scarf. She wiggled a little at his voice, and Liu held his breath as she yawned and opened her eyes. She was really cute, and really small, but baby’s were supposed to be really cute and small, right?

She cooed at him and tilted her head like a curious puppy. Liu smiled awkwardly. “Hey, um, kiddo,” Kiddo??? “Uh…..you, mh, uh, you sleep…good?” He could feel Sully laughing at him. He told him to shut up and get out of his head. Sully refused. Inconsiderate split personality.

The baby was scrutinizing him, somehow, and she must have seen something she didn’t like because she started to cry. Liu panicked and, instead of doing one of the fifteenth things Sully was telling him to do, put his finger in the baby’s mouth. She was immediately silent, and blinked at him for a few seconds before becoming incredibly insulted. He thinks, anyway. He doesn’t know what an insulted baby looks like, but it’s probably this.

She squirmed away from his hand and tried to crawl out of his lap. Liu simply held her in place. She wiggled more, and her face was scrunching up like she was about to scream the scream of all screams. “Look,” Liu sighed, “I don’t know how to take care of myself, much less a baby. I know your probably used to Puppeteer and Sully, but now you gotta get used to me because me and Sully are a buy-one-get-one deal, ok? You can’t have Sully without having me, and vise-versa, you know?” The baby gave him an unimpressed look.

He sighed again. “Not one for conversation, huh?” He took out a unroasted marshmallow and pulled it in half. “You want a mallow?” She was still judging him, but also wanted a marshmallow. He gave her the smaller part and she chewed it as best she could and was silent when she swallowed. “Well?” She stared at him in that really weird way he was pretty sure only babies could.

Suddenly she giggled, and reached up to grab his cheek as best she could. Liu smiled. “So you like sugar, good to know.” Sully didn’t think it was a good idea to give a malnourished and starved baby a marshmallow, but what did he know? Probably a lot more than him, but Liu’s not gonna admit that out loud.

He bounced her on his leg like he’d seen other parents do, and it made her happy if the squealing and clapping was anything to go by. Feeling a bit more confident, he put out the fire and stood up feeling less confident because he has no idea how to properly hold a baby. ‘Sully,’ he thought, holding her like a sack of potatoes, ‘what do I do?’

Sully laughed, and whispered to him instructions on the proper way to hold a small human. Liu adjusted her accordingly, and after he was sure he wouldn’t drop her, opened the van door and sat in the passengers seat. She was tugging on his scarf and shirt, which was covered is ash. His whole body seemed to be covered in it. He really needed a bath.

He leaned back and wrapped the baby in his scarf, who cooed at him and began clapping happily. “See, I’m not so bad.” Liu laughed as she began grabbing for his face. He would have leaned down for her, but hands wrapped around his eyes and a smooth voice whispered, “Guess who~?”

“Puppeteer,” Liu started, “could you fill me in on the whys, how’s, and when’s? Sully isn’t telling me shit.” Puppeteer scrambled into the drivers seat before looking at him. “Liu?” He asked, holding the baby’s hand. The baby seemed far happier now that Puppeteer was here. “When’d you come back?”

Liu moved the baby closer to Puppeteer. “I think an hour ago? I don’t know how long we were asleep for. All I know is I woke up covered in ash with a baby.” The baby in question was babbling and drooling on Puppeteers finger. “I left around two hours ago, so you’ve probably been sleeping for three if you just woke up.” Puppeteer pulled his hand away and wiped it on his pants. “This is baby, Sully found her in Number 4 and decided to keep her. I’m here as third opinion and parent.”

Liu nodded and bounced the baby more. He decided to ignore the parent bit for now–and let’s be honest, he’s gonna ignore it as long as possible–and ask the more miscellaneous questions. “So, does she have a name, or..?” Puppeteer shrugged. “Her birth parents named her Harriet Potter, but we decided to change it. He said he had a few ideas, but wasn’t sure. I think he wanted to wait for you to meet her before deciding. I don’t know what ideas Sully had, but I’ve been leaning towards mythology.” Liu hummed and bounced the baby more, looking her over. She stared at him and giggled.

Liu smiled. “Well, I don’t know about first names, but I think your last name fits her. And Sully was thinking something with an ‘a’, but everything he’s got sounds more like a middle name.” Puppeteer looked surprised for a moment before grinning. “Well, since you’ve chosen her last name and Sully’s working on her middle, can I pick her first?” He nodded, and Puppeteer picked up the baby and lightly bounced her. The baby was still giggling, but softer. She was tired, apparently.

“Let’s see….” Puppeteer whispered, and Liu leaned on his shoulder. “Shiva? No, doesn’t really fit. Did Sully decide on a middle name? It’ll help.” Liu listened for a second. “He chose Amelia.” Puppeteer nodded. “Alright then, definitely not Shiva. Erebus? No, Freya?” He broke off into incomprehensible muttering, rocking the sleepy-eyed baby. Liu leaned closer to hear, and because Sully was getting impatient.

“I’ve got it!” He exclaimed, quickly quieting when the baby made a small noise. “Dionysus. Dionysus Amelia Blake. What’d you think?” Liu rolled it around for a bit before smiling. “I like it, has a nice ring. Sully likes it too.” Puppeteer beamed and kissed the baby–Dionysus head, who gave one last coo before yawning and closing her eyes. They watched her sleep for a few minutes, Liu leaning against Puppeteer and Puppeteer gently rocking back and forth. Liu almost fell asleep before he was gently nudged by Puppeteer.

He gave a small hum and tried to nuzzle his face into Puppeteers neck, but Puppeteer chuckled and kissed his head before whispering, “C’mon, sweetheart, I didn’t vanish for nothing. It’ll be quick, and way more comfy too.” Liu made a disgruntled noise before moving off him. Puppeteer handed him Dionysus and began wrapping his strings all around the van, and soon everything in the van and the van itself was a pastel yellow. “Get ready.” Puppeteer warned, before the van glowed bright and they vanished from the forest clearing.

_____________

Liu exited the van and cradled Dionysus as gently as he could. He hated the way Puppeteers teleportation worked, it always made his legs feel like wet cardboard and his head pound. Puppeteer came around the side and helped him walk towards the abandoned theater. It was imposing and creaked every time the wind blew, like it would topple any second. But Liu knew that it wouldn’t–and probably never–fall, since it’d been attacked by grenades more than a dozen times. He hadn’t been here in about a year and the half, and it looked less decaying and more unkept, the entrance doors fixed and the wood wasn't splintered . It wasn’t like that the last time he’d been here.

When he entered he was surprised to find it put together. Usually there was about three support beams laying center stage, and half the seats overturned or torn with the curtains strewn about everywhere. But now the stage was pristine, and the curtains draped gracefully across the sides. The seats looked brand new, and the floors had carpet. The walls were painted and the floodlights worked! He sent a wild look towards Puppeteer, and he grinned smugly. “I did some renovations. Figured the original look was a little unsafe for a baby, so I moved some stuff around, maybe added a new coat of paint. What’d ya think?” 

Liu looked around again in awe. “This is amazing…” He whispered, bouncing Dionysus. “How’d you manage to do this in two hours?” Puppeteers smug look turned sheepish. And guilty. Liu was suddenly not so amazed. “What’d you do?” He deadpanned. Puppeteer pulled him to the back rooms of the theater instead of answering. The back rooms were used as the kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom. When he walked in, he almost forgot about whatever Puppeteer did. 

The living room and connected kitchen looked brand new, with a flatscreen and waxed dark wood floors. A grey couch in front of the flatscreen and a brown coffee table, with a grey recliner to the left. A small table to the left of the couch, two bookshelves behind the recliner, a black wood kitchen counter. A steel fridge, a white gas stove, there was a closet that wasn’t there before.

“There’s a dishwasher.” Liu said dumbly, pointing at the silver dishwasher next to the sink. Sully laughed at him. In his defense, there hadn’t even been chairs before. “Yep, got this whole place decked out. But the tour ain’t over yet. Just wait, sweetheart, you’re about to be blown away.” Puppeteer pulled him towards the door right of the tv, and then grinned at him sheepishly. “So, you know how I said I made some renovations? Well, uh, I couldn’t really do it by myself, so I, mh, called in a friend, or, y’know…three.”

Before, the bedroom only had a mattress, a nightstand, and a table and chair. But now there was a large wardrobe, the floor was carpet, and the table was brand new dark wood with a spiny chair. To the left of that was a bookshelf half filled. The bed looked nice–it was a king bed, with a black bed frame and plush pillows and new blankets. What was not nice about the bed was the clown, toymaker, and proxy sitting on it. Liu turned to Puppeteer and motioned for an explanation. Puppeteer didn’t get to give him one.

“Oh, Liu, hi! What’d ya t-t-think of t-the glow up? My boys did such a good job!” Toby Rogers wiggled his fingers at him, his whole body randomly twitching. Liu slowly waved back. Toby was fun to kill and party with– changelings didn’t know how to stop partying–but he was also a proxy of The Keeper, The Slenderman. He was also in a very, ah….. affectionate relationship with a 5th dimensional clown and a reality bending ginger. Said clown and ginger were watching him, very interested in the baby in his arms.

“I must admit, it’s rather odd to keep the child instead of placing her with better people. Why keep her?” Jason the Toymaker was sitting in Laughing Jacks lap, and Toby was sitting in his. Liu sighed. “From what we know, she’s a incredibly powerful witch, which may be why her relatives abused her-“ Toby bristled slightly and both Jason and Jack began softly rubbing his legs and twirling his hair. “-but from what Sully said Puppeteer got from her memories, she was a prophecy child that some asshole tried to kill. Apparently he used a killing spell on her, but she reflected it back and killed him, which is why she has this scar on half her face.”

Toby cooed and began whispering excitedly about murder baby’s to Jack and Jason. “What’s her name?” Jack looked intrigued, probably because she wasn’t even a year old and had already killed somebody. “Dionysus Blake.” Dionysus squirmed a little at her new name, and opened her eyes slowly. She gave a little gurgle and waved a fist. Toby gasped dramatically and Dionysus went dead silent at the sound. Shit. “Guys,” Liu started, “the last time she met someone new, she—“ He didn’t get to finish, because Dionysus began squirming and making sounds that would have been very cute if the books hadn’t started flying off the bookshelf towards Toby.

Toby ‘awed' as if the baby wasn’t telepathically attacking him, and lazily dodged the books. “Only a few mont-t-ths and she’s already vicious~! Oohh, she’s gonna be so bloodt-t-thirst-ty! T-t-that’s good, very good, every girl should be a lit-t-tle malevolent-t-t-t~” Jack and Jason didn’t look worried, either, more amused and slightly confused. “I’m concerned about the prophecy and what it entails, and the man that tried to murder her, but I suppose you’ll deal with that when it becomes unavoidable.” Jason sighed, and relaxed into Jack as he watched Toby prance around.

All that attacking Toby made Dionysus pretty tired if her yawning and droopy eyes was anything to go by. The books had also slowed down, but every now and then one would sloppily fly off. “Can I hold her??? Please, please, please, please, please, please, pret-t-t-ty please???? I’ll be gent-t-tal, promise!” Toby bounced on his heels and gave Liu his best puppy dog eyes that probably always worked with Jack and Jason. Liu rocked Dionysus, unsure, before he figured, ‘eh, what the hell. Despite how chaotic he is, he’s still Toby, and Toby loves kids.’

“Gently, and don’t jump around with her, ok?” Liu said, slowly handing him Dionysus. She seemed very nervous, but the second Toby ‘awed’ and started swaying back and forth she was all smiles. Dionysus waved a fist and Toby giggled and cooed like he’d never seen a baby before. Jason and Jack watched with fond expressions. Toby had always talked about having kids with anyone who’d listen, and both demons shared his desire of having kids of their own running around. Liu had a feeling they were going to become Dionysus honorary uncles and go-to babysitters very quickly.

After half an hour of pass the baby, Puppeteer and Liu managed to get the three to leave with the promise that they could come back and (safely)play with her. They then had the problem of putting Dionysus to bed. Her new room-a room that wasn’t there before-had everything a baby needed. A crib, a changing table, a small dresser and toy box, stuffed animals and walls with washable paint, it shouldn’t have been a problem. She’d gone to sleep easily before, why would this time be any different? She should’ve been very tired from all the moving and being coddled by three strangers, but somehow she still found the energy to cry every time one of them walked even an inch away from her. It was a miracle they managed to put her to sleep, but after a good hour of cooing and music, she finally drifted off.

After a quick shower, Liu face planted into the new bed, fully intent on sleeping for the next few years. Puppeteer rolled next to him and pulled him to his chest. “It’s been a long time sense we’ve slept in a real bed.” Puppeteer murmured, grabbing his hand and softly kissing from his knuckles to his neck. Liu couldn’t help but giggle, and he gave Puppeteer a kiss on his shoulder. Puppeteer purred and nuzzled into Liu’s collarbone, playfully nipping at the crook of his neck. Liu sighed and rolled over to wrap himself against Puppeteer, kissing him until he was close to suffocating.

He went to sleep eager for the next day…

And woke up at midnight, because baby’s can never go the full night without ruining someone’s sleep schedule.