Work Text
Vax’ildan
fidgeted with the buttons of his shirt, straightening them over and over, glancing nervously at the clock every few seconds. He was due at
Scanlan’s
in fifteen minutes and he was all ready to go. He had chosen his best outfit, a dark button-up and what Vex called his “GET SOME” jeans. He dressed to impress. The problem was that he didn’t know what else to do with his nervous energy once he had dressed and brushed his hair and checked his pockets to make sure he had his keys and phone on him for the fiftieth time.
He’d picked
Scanlan
up for dates before, but
Scanlan
always met him outside, ready to go so
Vax
didn’t have to step inside the house. It had made him nervous the longer
Scanlan
was careful about when and where they met up. The longer they met on the street or at the restaurant,
Vax
felt like a secret that
Scanlan
was keeping from the world.
“Are you ashamed of me?”
Vax
asked one night at the bar they’d slipped into, avoiding saying goodbye. “Or do you have a spouse that you’re not telling me about?”
“What? No,”
Scanlan
laughed. “Why would I be ashamed of you? You’re literally the man of everyone’s dreams.”
“I just think, it’s a little weird. You don’t let me in your house. When we hook up, it’s at my place or a hotel. And-”
“I have a daughter,”
Scanlan
interrupted and then scrunched his face like he regretted it. “Her name is Kaylie. She’s eight.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“A lot of people hear kid and run. And I like you too much to risk that.”
“I won’t run.”
“You don’t know that,”
Scanlan
said, tilting his head to the side. “You haven’t met her. I’ve had sixteen different babysitters quit on me in the past year. She’s a, a handful.”
“I know a certain someone else who is a handful,”
Vax
said gently, bumping his foot against
Scanlan’s
leg reassuringly. “I can handle you being a father, and having a livewire daughter, and-”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Friday, Pike has
the night off
and wants to have a girl’s night in with Kaylie. You come pick me up at my house, and I’ll introduce you. With one stipulation.”
“Anything. Name it.”
“You give her a chance. She’s been through a lot, and she’s stand-offish at first. But once you get to know her, she’s the most beautiful little girl you will ever meet.”
“I promise.”
So,
Vax
was standing in front of his mirror, adjusting the cuffs on his button-up, trying to make himself presentable for an eight-year-old. He had done a lot of stupid shit in his life, death-defying stunts, been arrested
,
charged for misdemeanors and
then dragged
in front of his father’s wrath. He had done a lot in his twenty-four years of life, but this was by far the most nerve-wracking experience he had eve
r endured.
An eight-year-old that belonged to someone he -
Standing in front of his mirror, smoothing his shirt again, he admitted it quietly to himself.
He loved
Scanlan
.
“Is everything okay?” Vex asked from his doorway.
“Wonderful,” he answered.
“Meeting the family?”
“His daughter.”
“Wow, big step.”
“It’s a terrifying step, certainly.”
“He likes you, clearly. So, his daughter should, too.”
“I don’t think it quite works that way, but I appreciate your optimism, sister.”
She stepped up to him and fixed his collar.
“You’re going to do amazing, and you’re going to charm her, and he’s going to fall in love with you if he isn’t already.”
“
Vex’ahlia
,”
Vax
started but she swept dust off his shoulders.
“You’re going to be late,” she said, and then slipped out of the room.
Scanlan
lived in a small one-floor home at the edge of
Emon
with daisies in the windows and a small fenced in yard. Most times,
Bigby
, their cat, stared at
Vax
from the windows with a look of distain. Now, a small face peeked at him from behind the curtains, big brown eyes wide. Just beside her, a small grey cat face with almost amethyst eyes stared at him. Unamused.
He tried to act confident as he walked across their yard and to the front door. The door opened before he could knock. Before him,
Scanlan
was half-dressed, wearing one sock, his pants unzipped to reveal bright purple boxers, and his buttons were off by at least two buttons. He was stunning.
“Hi!”
Scanlan
greeted. “I'm running a little late. I didn’t expect class to run so late, but my students were having this good discussion on
Devossa’s
contribu
- well, hello.”
His eyes focused on
Vax
and a smile split across his face.
“You look amazing,”
Scanlan
said, stepping into
Vax’s
space.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
“Dad?”
Kaylie
Shorthalt
looked remarkably like
Scanlan
, which somehow surprised
Vax
more than it should have. Her hair was short, the
exact same shade as
Scanlan’s
,
cut into a
bob around her chin, her nose upturned in
the exact same way as
Scanlan’s
as well. He could find him in her features, and tried to parse the missing puzzle pieces of her mother around them.
“
Kaylie, this is
Vax'ildan
.
Vax
, this is my daughter, Kaylie.
I have to finish getting ready but
I’ll leave you two alone. Play nice, Kaylie.”
She rolled her eyes, and
Vax
smothered his laugh at how much that reminded him not of
Scanlan
but of Pike.
“Hi,”
Vax
said, shutting the front door behind him as
Scanlan
hurried into his room to finish dressing. “It’s nice to meet you, Kaylie.”
“Are you dating my dad?” she asked without preamble.
“Yes,”
Vax
answered quietly.
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything for a moment.
“
Bigby
doesn’t like you,” Kaylie stated.
“No,”
Vax
said, “but that’s because he doesn’t know me. Yet.”
“Yet,” she echoed doubtfully.
“Do you not like me, too?”
“I don’t know you.”
“Yet.”
She frowned at him.
“Your dad tells me you’re a musician just like him,”
Vax
said. “You started playing the flute recently, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “Dad didn’t tell me anything about you.”
He stifled his laugh.
“Well, that just means you get to learn about me firsthand.”
“What if I don’t want to? Doesn’t seem worth it. Not yet.”
Vax
scrubbed a hand across his mouth, hiding his smile. It was such a sharp, succinct thought from someone so small,
Scanlan’s
attitude echoed in her voice.
“I’ll just have to stick around, I guess, and prove that I’m worth getting to know.”
“We’ll see.”
The front door opened again into
Vax
, and a short, blonde woman popped through.
“
Vax
!” Pike said, grinning at him.
She swept him
into a familial hug. He had seen a lot of her recently
as
Keyleth
and Pike swept in to
pick
his sister up for their dates.
“Good to see you!”
“
Hey Pickle, how’s it going?”
“
Oh, living the dream,” she said, but
it sounded like she meant it.
“
Actually, I got
off work
early
so I can spend time with my favorite girl.
”
She rounded the
corner to sweep Kaylie into a hug as well.
Kaylie was almost as tall as Pike already, but Pike had always been
short.
“I won’t tell Kiki or Vex
about this.”
“
I love Keeks and Vex. They’re the loves of my life. This, here, though,”
she said, shaking the little girl in her arms
playfully, “is my favorite girl, and they know it.”
Kaylie ducked out of her arms and
looked over at
Vax
.
“You look like Vex!”
Kaylie finally said, the realization dawning
on her.
“She’s
my twin,”
Vax
replied.
“
That’s so cool,” she whispered, looking at him with a thoughtful gaze. “You’re cool. You can stay.”
Vax
started to nod at her when she cut him off.
“But you’re on thin ice, buddy.”
Scanlan
came out
of his room then, fully dressed and ready
to go.
“
You all set
?”
Scanlan
asked
, shrugging his coat on
.
“Yeah,”
Vax
said, looking at Kaylie who stared at him for a moment, and then nodded
her approval. “
Everything’s good.
”