dancing on bones (our souls of iolites and emeralds)

Chapter 14

"The greatest gift our parents ever gave us was each other."
– Unknown

//

Harry was crying.

Harry was crying, and Kusuo didn't quite know what to do. It wasn't the same as babysitting Chiyo's kids, because he could always hand them back to her. He was not, under any circumstances, giving (poor, sweet, warm, bright, innocent)  Harry to the Dursleys.

So, what to do?

What did Mama used to do when he was upset?

(before he'd shut down, and Dad was too childish, and Kuusuke was changing, and Akechi was leaving, and everything and everyone and all of it became too much, and he'd closed off.)
(It was only years later that he realised, he got that unhealthy little habit of shutting down and disassociating from her. That had been a good joint therapy session)

He recalled Bad Days, when the noise and screaming and the whispers and the chaos was so exhausting for a little five year old boy. Godlike powers or not.

Distant memories of drinking hot chocolate under the creaky desk that lived in their attic as she told him stories. Tales of The Bell of Dojoji, The Fox and the Badger, and the The Chrysanthemum Show.

Looking back, there were plenty of western fairytales that Kusuo could've told Harry. But he knew these ones better, and they meant more to him. 

He talks to Harry with his mouth, his real voice, despite how quiet and course it sounded, and how much his throat hurt. Because babies needed to hear voices to learn how to speak. And Kusuo didn't want to stunt Harry's growth for the sake of his own comfort.

He speaks in Japanese, because dammit English wasn't his language and his mothertongue could be easily disguised as meaningless baby babble.

He projects images into the infants head with every word the make sure he understood.  Harry stops crying, and Kusuo continues to speak. Because Harry needs it. And when he runs out of fairytales he tells the myths of his childhood. Stories of the Shinto Gods falling in love and forming bonds, only to lie and betray each other. They pour out of him and Harry listened

It wasn't long until Harry started falling asleep, moving a bit in his brother's arms, letting out a small sound that he took for a yawn. He  held him a while longer on the nursery floor, not sure why he didn't want to put him in the crib just yet.

//

(Three months into their stay at the Dursleys, Harry was proudly bilingual, and Kusuo absolutely didn't cry when Harry said his first sentence in Japanese)

(That shit was gonna be a core memory, and he was carrying it with him until the day he died.... again. The world could pry this fragile domesticity  from his corps)

( Harry had said, "I love you. ")

He had always loved kids, but now Kusuo finally understand why people had children. This was the most rewarding thing he'd ever done.

(He didn't deserve it. After his oversight killed this boy's parents. But he was going to give this child a family if it killed him. Even if that family was a chronically depressed twenty-eight year old in the body of toddler)

//

Harry is Kusuo's reason to live right now, and he'll be damned if he lets anything happen to this sweet child.

(his baby, his baby, his baby).

A/N
That's a nice child you got there Kusuo. Would be a shame if someone were to... traumatize him

I have been gone for a hot minute, but I am almost done unpacking after the move.
I'm hoping for more consistent updates on all my stories, but no promises just yet.

I'm hoping to get a few more chapters out though.

this chapter is just here for some nice, warm, fluff, and to establish the parental relationship that is forming between Kusuo-Felix and Harry, because at the moment, Kusuo-Felix is more his parent than anything else.

Toodaloo ( ˘ ³˘)♥