in endless ways
Sep. 10th, 2020 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paradoxicalrenegadei really gotta stop writing shit that's too long for curiouscat.
this is actually pretty universe agnostic which is pretty neat, don't know how i managed it. someone asked for "tavi birthday cake" and i just got really emotional thinking about this kid. context: at some point blackjack gets followed home by a little homeless werepup and ends up going full papa wolf and they just don't leave and that's his kid now. tavi is i think seven in this but i'm not a hundred percent.
it wasn’t unusual to wake up in the apartment with the smell of something delicious baking, but usually it was after a nap, not at… tavi checked the little clock they kept buried in their nest. eight in the morning? dad— ezekiel, was usually at work at eight in the morning, and meridian’s baking was okay but it wasn’t ezekiel’s. he’d be the first to say it.
tavi stretched a little and let out a little yawn before untangling themself from the nest of blankets. they shifted, just for a moment, just to get some of the restless wiggles out and paw their nest back into something that looked less like a puppy had just climbed out of it. no one minded if they left it a mess, but it seemed polite.
that done, they left the little room that was their hideaway and slipped into the bathroom to brush their teeth before padding into the kitchen. to their surprise, ezekiel was home, and talking quietly to meridian at the stove. prior was nowhere to be seen, but that was usual. prior didn’t like mornings. tavi wasn’t too sure about them, either, but this morning was shaking up to be pretty nice, if ezekiel was home.
meridian looked over at them and jumped like he’d been caught. tavi eyed him suspiciously. “morning, pup,” ezekiel rumbled.
“hi,” tavi said, and, lost for words, just pointed to the oven. only then did they notice dad— ezekiel had a bowl in his hands. mixing something? but he just glanced at the oven and nodded.
“meridian,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “this is your job. i have decorating to do.” meridian sighed, looking defeated.
“i wanted to surprise them,” he complained, but there was no heat behind it. “koutavi, it’s been a year since you came to stay with us.”
oh. huh. tavi tilted their head and thought about it for a moment. it had been a while. all the seasons had turned over and it was spring again. they were a little surprised that meridian remembered the exact date, though.
“um,” meridian said. “and since we don’t know your birthday, i thought it might be nice to… to celebrate it. like it was a birthday. just a little thing! but ezekiel took the day off of work and i thought we could have cake for breakfast and then if you had anything you wanted to do, we could do whatever you wanted. since it’s your day.”
oh. oh. tavi vaguely remembered one birthday, but the date was lost to them now. this was way, way better. tavi looked at ezekiel— dad, maybe— who was pulling a cake out of the oven. “is that hazelnut?” they asked.
“of course it is,” ezekiel rumbled. “i know my child’s favorite kind of cake.”
that, more than anything else, made tavi feel funny in their chest. like, all warm down to the tips of their fingers. it was one thing to call ezekiel and meridian dad and papa in their head; it was another thing to know they considered them their kid.
“okay,” tavi said, and stepped up close to wrap their arms around meridian’s waist and rest their head on his hip. “can we go to the park later?”
“of course, pup,” meridian— papa— said, resting a hand on tavi’s head. “like i said, whatever you want.”
“cool,” tavi said, and then, hesitant, “thanks, dad. thanks, papa.”
dad looked like he was about to cry, just a little bit. “it’s the least i can do, little wolf.”
this is actually pretty universe agnostic which is pretty neat, don't know how i managed it. someone asked for "tavi birthday cake" and i just got really emotional thinking about this kid. context: at some point blackjack gets followed home by a little homeless werepup and ends up going full papa wolf and they just don't leave and that's his kid now. tavi is i think seven in this but i'm not a hundred percent.
it wasn’t unusual to wake up in the apartment with the smell of something delicious baking, but usually it was after a nap, not at… tavi checked the little clock they kept buried in their nest. eight in the morning? dad— ezekiel, was usually at work at eight in the morning, and meridian’s baking was okay but it wasn’t ezekiel’s. he’d be the first to say it.
tavi stretched a little and let out a little yawn before untangling themself from the nest of blankets. they shifted, just for a moment, just to get some of the restless wiggles out and paw their nest back into something that looked less like a puppy had just climbed out of it. no one minded if they left it a mess, but it seemed polite.
that done, they left the little room that was their hideaway and slipped into the bathroom to brush their teeth before padding into the kitchen. to their surprise, ezekiel was home, and talking quietly to meridian at the stove. prior was nowhere to be seen, but that was usual. prior didn’t like mornings. tavi wasn’t too sure about them, either, but this morning was shaking up to be pretty nice, if ezekiel was home.
meridian looked over at them and jumped like he’d been caught. tavi eyed him suspiciously. “morning, pup,” ezekiel rumbled.
“hi,” tavi said, and, lost for words, just pointed to the oven. only then did they notice dad— ezekiel had a bowl in his hands. mixing something? but he just glanced at the oven and nodded.
“meridian,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “this is your job. i have decorating to do.” meridian sighed, looking defeated.
“i wanted to surprise them,” he complained, but there was no heat behind it. “koutavi, it’s been a year since you came to stay with us.”
oh. huh. tavi tilted their head and thought about it for a moment. it had been a while. all the seasons had turned over and it was spring again. they were a little surprised that meridian remembered the exact date, though.
“um,” meridian said. “and since we don’t know your birthday, i thought it might be nice to… to celebrate it. like it was a birthday. just a little thing! but ezekiel took the day off of work and i thought we could have cake for breakfast and then if you had anything you wanted to do, we could do whatever you wanted. since it’s your day.”
oh. oh. tavi vaguely remembered one birthday, but the date was lost to them now. this was way, way better. tavi looked at ezekiel— dad, maybe— who was pulling a cake out of the oven. “is that hazelnut?” they asked.
“of course it is,” ezekiel rumbled. “i know my child’s favorite kind of cake.”
that, more than anything else, made tavi feel funny in their chest. like, all warm down to the tips of their fingers. it was one thing to call ezekiel and meridian dad and papa in their head; it was another thing to know they considered them their kid.
“okay,” tavi said, and stepped up close to wrap their arms around meridian’s waist and rest their head on his hip. “can we go to the park later?”
“of course, pup,” meridian— papa— said, resting a hand on tavi’s head. “like i said, whatever you want.”
“cool,” tavi said, and then, hesitant, “thanks, dad. thanks, papa.”
dad looked like he was about to cry, just a little bit. “it’s the least i can do, little wolf.”
