hybrid_prince | Open Post

"I'm sorry you couldn't have that with Billy," Teddy answers, and finally lifts an honest to god chicken nugget from his plate. Sometimes Emperors need spoiled. "They have their own language I think. And I don't understand them. They've given me sleepless nights, and it pains me that until I figure out how to handle it, the little ones can't be trusted to hold hands, but... I'm glad they have each other."

And the chicken nugget goes into his mouth. Because yum is why.

"Me too, sometimes. But maybe it's better. If we were together, maybe we both would have gotten world-destroying powers at the same time and then screwed everything up," Tommy said wryly.

He looked over to see what Teddy was eating and snorted at the nugget. Not exactly dignified food. "Can you get them some kind of gloves they can't get off, until we get their powers sorted out?" he said. "So they can touch?"

Well, there is that, but Teddy reaches out to touch his lover’s shoulder.

“You’re not going to destroy anything,” he promised before offering over a nugget. “And I’m not putting mittens on the kids. I don’t know that it would help.”

Tommy smiled and shrugged. "I came kind of close," he admitted. "Figuring out new powers sort of sucks." Especially when you're in the middle of being a depressed wreck for most of it. But Tommy figured he still had it easier than being a single dad.

He took the nugget by biting it out of Teddy's fingers with a quick grin, eating it before answering. "Hey, kids in mittens are cute. But hopefully Billy can figure something out. Or magic a solution until they're a little older."

“Mittens can be cute, but… depriving them of the ability to touch each other seems… cruel.”

And yet he’s doing that anyway, isn’t he? It’s been hard, this last week, trying to deal with the new changes in his life. But he knew what it was like to need to touch someone, and it was not easy on the twin as he wished it could be.

"Yeah, but they can't really touch now you said, right?" Tommy asked, reaching for another nugget and feeding it to Teddy this time before going on. "So touching through mittens would be better than nothing, right?"

Tommy ate another couple of nuggets too, then fed Teddy another one before leaning back up against him, reaching with one hand to swing Thomas' fingers back and forth when he reached toward them. "But don't worry about it too much anyway - Billy or David might have a better idea." He went quiet for a moment, watching the twins and then asked Teddy quietly. "You okay with that? Billy and David?"

It's both a complicated question, and a very simple one. Why should he be concerned about them when he had already sworn himself to Tommy in the ways that mattered? But it was a serious question because it was someone who had wanted him with someone who he loved.

"I'm glad they're happy," Teddy decides at last. And, to try and not linger there too much... "I suppose I can see about mittens. And clipping them to their clothes so they don't take them off."

Tommy wasn't really happy about the lack of answer, even if he understood. Even if Teddy loved him, that didn't mean he didn't love Billy too, or that they hadn't shared something special for a long time. Plus him and David had kind of sparked. It made sense if Teddy had complicated feelings about it, especially if he just found out today, the same way Tommy wasn't unhappy about the kids, but still hadn't processed everything he felt about it, either.

So Tommy got it. But he couldn't help a little stab of hurt too, no matter how much it didn't make sense. He shoved it down and let the topic go. "There's got to be some cool sci-fi alien mittens that are better than ours."

Oh man, what a line. Teddy laughs and shakes his head. "If there are, they aren't Kree or Skrull make. Skrull keep their hands free for small shifts. Kree have learned to biometric lock their weapons."

Mostly because of getting their ass handed to them by Earthlings a b it too much.

"There's other aliens out there. Some of them don't even abduct people, probably," Tommy said wryly. Since there was definitely at least one kind out there that did. But someone could probably make some kind of thin mittens or artificial skin or something that could cover. But like he told Teddy, there was no point in worrying too much about it until Billy and David had tried to see what they could do.

Thomas picked up some of his fruit and threw it fussily to the floor, making a general noise of dissatisfaction. Tommy smiled at him. "Guess dinner's getting to be over?" he said, reaching to give Teddy another nugget.

“There are,” Teddy agrees, and he frowns at the suggestion. “And what they might do to get an advantage on an Emperor through his children…”

Nope, he’s not pleased by that idea at all. But the situation with the food needs dealt with. Oh dear.

“Yeah, it’s bath time,” Teddy agrees, and immediately gets protests from the twins. “And after that they gets some time with the nanny while I eat for real.”

Tommy shivered unhappily at the idea. "They've got you for a dad and Billy for an uncle. And maybe we should put some kind of tracking spell on them until they get older, just in case." He should have asked Billy about that when he got back ... but he hadn't. Probably because his subconscious was fucked up and half hoping if he got taken again he'd be back with Teddy.

David had a point about Tommy needing the therapy he hadn't actually given a chance to work, maybe.

He smiles at the immediate whining. "You just need fun bath stuff," he said. The kids he watched sometimes had toys and stuff. One had crayons you could draw on the shower with and Tommy would play tic tac toe with her when she had her bath. "Eat with Billy and David and talk, afterward, I guess?" He was kind of reluctant to give up any time alone with Teddy - but he owed Billy that right away, Tommy figured.

“They’ve got you for a dad too,” Teddy counters. And Tommy always fought tooth and nail for his family. So Teddy thought that probably helped. “And they’ve GOT fun bath stuff.”

Teddy sighs as he moves to scoop Thomas into his arms. “They have all the toys and when they get into the water they LOVE it. But they whine before. Because they know their hair is getting washed. I can get help for this, if you want to go back to our room and rest? Or go seek Billy out.”

"Yeah, but my shit's not all the way locked down yet," Tommy said.

He hesitated, but then stood too, carefully hefting Kathryn into his arms. He'd already held her, but it felt a little like he should ask permission first, even if he knew Teddy would say otherwise. He smiled at her and pressed an absent kiss to the top of her head and then looked back at Teddy, shaking his head. "I want to stay with you." He was kind of paranoid about letting Teddy out of his sight, honestly. He'd find Billy afterward, with Teddy, hopefully. "I'll stay out of the way."

Oh no, Teddy was SUPER down with teaching the children consent. If the children didn't want him to pick them up and there was an argument for it, he'd let it go. But for things like this he'd tell them he understood no, and why he was doing it.

Listen, he was a pretty nice Dad.

"Good, because you'll get splashed otherwise," Teddy laughs, tilting his head for Tommy to follow as he heads for another door in the room.

Tommy just grinned. "They'll have a hard time hitting me," he teased.

But he trailed after Teddy, holding his daughter on his hip and nodding and uh-huhing in answering to her babble and prodding.

He wondered how strange it must be for people to suddenly see him here, and if they thought he'd just ignored the kids for all this time, but he didn't want to ask. He didn't blame Teddy for what he'd done, but he just wished things could have gone differently.

Yeah, there was a lot that would have to be done to fix the damage Teddy had done. But he guides them through a hall and then through the main corridor, and then back into his rooms and through a door there to a large bathroom. A truly rich sort of person bathroom. And the nursemaid was already there, having drawn a very shallow and lukewarm bath.

"Thank you. I will see you tomorrow," Teddy smiles at the woman.

Tommy surrendered Kathryn a little reluctantly and smiled at the nursemaid, taking in the expansive bathroom. Huh, definitely swanky.

He brushed his fingers through Thomas' hair too before he retreated back by Teddy's side, sliding his fingers back into Teddy's almost automatically. It was strange how quickly he fell back into old habits like those. Though maybe it was just because he wasn't trying that hard to fight them.

Teddy made sure to squeeze Tommy's hand briefly before pulling away from it. After all, there was much to do. His crown and cape came off, set aside along with his boots before he knelt by the bath. One of his arms, shifting large and green, split into two, one of the resultant arms wrapping around Kathryn, who giggled. The other two were busy with one holding Thomas still while his un-split hand slowly to take the boy's clothes off.

"Clothes, before you leave for the night?" Teddy called to the nursemaid, hardly thinking to look at her. They clearly had a routine.

Tommy hung back, watching with a bit of fascination. He smiled when Teddy shifted his arms, even if he blushed a little too. The last time he remembered Teddy having extra arms was ... in very different context.

He shuffled to the side to let the nursemaid by, giving her a quick smile as she went to fetch clothes. When she came back with them, Tommy said a quiet goodnight, but just stayed where he was, watching Teddy work and the kids play. Like Teddy said, once they were in there, they were perfectly happy about it. And it was cute, watching them splash and shriek and Teddy wrangle them.

It takes a while, but finally the twins are cleaned, dried, in pajamas, and taken up into their father's arms. And he smiles at Tommy before nodding to another door.

"Through there. Their bed is in a side room. They have their own guard who watches them at night, and another maid."

And soon he'll lay them down and sing to the little ones, the best he can.

Tommy opened the door in a rush, eager for a way to help that wasn't in the way of the routine.

He stood aside as they walked through, trailing them in, processing that. They were growing up with a space emperor dad and a guard at all times. Maids and nannies. He had no frame of reference for their life. It wasn't a bad thing - his childhood had been shit, so he was glad theirs wasn't like his. But it was a weird thing to realize.

"Do the Kree and the Skrull both all know about them?" he asked, watching from not that far away.

Teddy follows along after Tommy, and once they're in the nursery he settles the children down into their separate cribs. The warmth of the bath water, the full bellies, and of course the play time in the bath, was clearly tuckering them out. There was a bit of protesting noises over them being separated, but Teddy knew what he had to do. Even if his eyes flashed toward a larger crib nearby that was clearly where the twins were supposed to be.

"Yes. The whole Alliance knows. Well, maybe there are some that don't, but not because the information is not free. My people are... happier to know I'm here and there are heirs."

The nursemaid and guard will enter when he summons them. For now Teddy offers a hand out to Tommy.

"Come join me? They are used to a bit of singing to sleep. I can share the song with you.

Tommy didn't know what it was like to grow up with a sibling, let alone a twin. But he imagined it was hard, being separated when they wanted to spend all their time together. The unused big crib said that it was a new change, and not one the kids liked.

Tommy drifted over toward Teddy. "But they're safe? I knowthey've got the guards and you and all, but there aren't ... I don't know. People pissed off that the heirs are half human or mutant or whatever?"

He puts his hand in Teddy's though, tucking up against his side just as automatically as before.

"Well, it was pretty clear my kids were bound to be half-human. The mutant is... weird," Teddy admits. But half-Skrull tended to pick up the strangest talents apparently. "But you underestimate how the Alliance feels about me. Those who follow the throne would die to protect these little ones. They're very loved."

But they never had their fathers together. Teddy wraps an arm around Tommy's arm and starts to hum under his breath, to teach Tommy the tune. This was something he didn't want to just let Tommy touch the memories of. He deserved to know this.

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