Finding Space | AvA/AvM one shots

Father's Day

Alan and Orange talk about Father's Day.

Content WARNING: This story talks about fathers and father figures and how they affect people. It can be a sensitive topic, and I don't know if I've done it justice, but I hope that I've given it the respect it deserves. I've also written more of char!Alan than I usually feel comfortable with, and I hope what I've written isn't offensive.

Writing style inspired by InksAndPens.

For much better formatting, see the AO3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/38526409/chapters/99497532

---

They'd been working on the storyboard when the notification slid in from the right side of the screen.

Father's Day (U.S. holiday)

Tomorrow

He had moved to dismiss the notification when he saw familiar orange text in the Animate window.

[Your calendar says "Father's Day"]

[What's "Father's Day"?]

[It's a holiday to celebrate fathers]

[What's a father?]

Ah. Orange didn't have that familiarity that was almost ubiquitous on this side of the screen.

[Well]

[]

[There's a lot of definitions. I guess one answer is someone who i̶s̶ m̶a̶l̶e̶, w̶h̶o̶ y̶o̶u̶'r̶e̶ r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶]

[like someone who is your male biological parent. I guess that's the best way to put that]

[Huh]

[A parent]

[?]

[Like... someone who takes care of you as a kid but more than that. Like, I have a father. he took care of me when I was young, helped me figure out things in life. still does, honestly. does his best to be supportive and a good listener, even if he still doesn't know what keyframes are]

Orange was shaking slightly in a snicker.

[I look up to him. there's a lot of stuff that he does that I try to be for my kids, like being patient and encouraging]

[although I find myself doing many not-good things that he does. Crack bad jokes, not the tidiest...]

Orange was shaking even harder now.

He smiled.

[So father's day is kinda a day to honor the father figures in your life who are those kind of people for you]

[father figure?]

[Act as a father]

[there's lots of people who can be a father figure who aren't male or biologically related or a parent. and fathers day is meant to celebrate all of those people]

[huh]

[that's really cool!]

Orange tilted his head.

[but then...]

[are there people without - who don't have father figures?]

He sighed. It was... that was a sensitive topic, and Orange most likely had almost no context. How could he summarise a sorrow of the world to someone who was alien to it?

[W̶e̶l̶l̶]

[]

[It's a hard question]

[not all fathers are father figures.]

He sat there for a while, hands hovering over the keyboard, long enough that Orange prompted,

[not all fathers are father figures?]

[yeah]

[and sometimes even father figures aren't always what we need them to be]

[even yours?]

[yeah]

He didn't feel like giving examples right now, and luckily Orange didn't press.

[so then]

[so then what could happen?]

[couldn't that become a bad thing?]

He had to stifle a bitter chuckle.

[l̶o̶t̶s̶ o̶f̶]

[v̶e̶r̶y̶]

[]

[it can have a huge effect on people.]

[for some people, they work it out and it's okay for them. for some people... it's really hard, and they might not even realize it]

[]

[it's not a simple answer]

[like "father" is such a... a universal human thing that it can really impact someone's life, good or bad]

[oh]

[it must be... I'm...]

[I wish the bad didn't happen.]

[]

[me too]

They were silent for a bit more. He could hear the fan turning on and little running feet outside the door.

[I'm sorry, I didn't intend to make this a heavy conversation]

[sokay, those are good questions. it's why I want to do my best for my kids and for anyone else it happens to work out that way]

Orange nodded but seemed to hesitantly lift a hand.

[You alright?]

[mm? yeah]

[I guess]

[well]

[]

[we don't have a father figure]

[... would we consider you our father figure?]

Orange had seemed to rush through the last bit without looking at the screen.

He had to think about that. How did this work for stick figures he created? He felt (and assumed from what he observed from Orange) that he was more of Orange's animator than father, and perhaps guardian for their little band of five, but...

[I̶]

[]

[Well guess I c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ b̶e̶ sorta am?]

[I mean if you all see it that way, of course, don't wanna make yall uncomfortable]

He hoped he hadn't gone in the wrong direction.

Orange looked downward.

[I]

[It makes sense but]

[]

[this is all still really new to me, so I need to think about it]

Why did his stomach sink a little at that?

[that's totally fine Orange]

Orange looked up at the screen, making small hurried gestures.

[but hey, I'm really-]

[I really appreciate learning this]

[thanks for explaining, Alan]

Orange formed a fist and thumped his torso lightly.

From the many years, he knew this was a sign of affection. He found himself blinking a couple times.

[you're very welcome :)]

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Thanks to AvA fan discord peeps for the Father's Day idea! And to InksAndPens for the writing style, I love it so much :)