Big Book of Xephna One Shots

World's Greatest Mum (S)

TW: Alien language, Xeph is monogender

"Ugh, this is so boring", whined Lalna.

He was in the middle of making materials for the next big project and he bored to tears after hours and hours of crafting them.

He stretched a little, feeling his back relax after hours of bending over the table. He looked out of the nearby window, saw it was still no where near the end of the day, and sighed.

Well I've still got loads to do, might as well take a break now, thought Lalna. He figured he'd head over to the kitchen, see if there was anything good for a snack.

When he got there he decided he was thirsty and went to get a glass from the cups cabinet. Reaching in he rummaged around for one, starting to pull back when he found a suitable one, but right before he finished he knocked against a mug. And as always when that happens it shot out of the cabinet and towards the ground as if had been thrown instead of nudged.

Lalna hurriedly turned around to try and catch it but missed when he swiped for it. It hit the ground and shattered, spraying ceramic shards over the kitchen floor. Looking closer he was horrified to see it was the BEE MINE mug Honeydew had given to Xephos (with much blushing and shuffling of feet), and which was Xephos' favourite mug, the one he used every morning for his tea.

Lalna anxiously swept up the pieces and tried to figure out how to put it back together, trying and failing to fit the pieces to each other. Eventually he gave up, resigning himself to an upset Xephos when he got home.

Staring down at the broken mug, his gaze landed on the bits of lettering he could still see, and inspiration hit him.

All he had to do was make him a new one! He quickly hid the mug pieces at the bottom of a trashcan and hurried out of kitchen to the crafting room.

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Turns out making a mug was hard. Really really hard.

The clay had to be just right, then you had to mold it while keeping it the right thickness or it would collapse, you couldn't rush through it or it would, again, collapse and then you had to wait for it to dry before you could fire it.

UGH.

Frustrated, Lalna smushed another failed clay mug into back into a ball, and tried again to make something even resembling a mug. He'd been trying for at least an hour now with nothing to show for it, and he had no idea when Xephos would get back home.

He bent over the table, determined to do this, and went back to it.

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A (long) while later found Lalna admiring his creation, turning it round in his hands. He'd managed to make a mug that was at least 90% the right shape, fired it without cracking it, and even managed to paint it pretty decently, if he said so himself. He had painted the mug burgundy and declaring WORLD'S GREATEST MUM* in gold lettering. Well, it kinda said that anyway. Lalna had tried his best to translate it to Xephos' native language and hoped it made sense.

He was just about to look around for something to wrap it in when he heard the front door open and shut. He whipped his head around to look at the window and saw the sun close to the horizon.

"It's been that long already?!", panicked Lalna. Sure his present was done, but he still wasn't ready! He stilled as he heard shuffling noises coming from the kitchen down the hall.

Well, he thought, guess I better get this over with, then. And he marched out of the room.

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Lalna entered the kitchen to see Xephos rummaging around the cabinets for something, a box of tea and a kettle sitting on the counter near him.

Nervously Lalna cleared his throat. Xephos looked round and sent a smile at Lalna.

"Hello Lalna, have you seen my bee mug anywhere? I can't find it anywhere", said Xephos. He turned back to his search with a small frown while waiting for Lalna to answer.

"Um, well, uh you see... Imaybebrokeitpleasedon'tbeangry", he blurted out quickly, hoping to get the worst over with.

Xephos turned around again with a confused look settling on his face.

"...what?" , asked Xephos.

Lalna hurried forward and pushed the mug towards Xephos.

"I made you this! I hope you like it!", said Lalna with a big smile. He was really hoping his exuberance and present distracted him from what he just said.

"Oh!", said Xephos, surprised. "You made me something?"

-

Xephos took the mug from Lalna and looked it over. He did like that the mug's color matched his coat. Then he saw what was written on the mug and froze. There was careful, slightly wobbly writing, on the side saying ɖugɑʒiŋ gɔsiki nɛŋɔ which normally would just make him roll his eyes at Lalna for his cheekiness and then thank him for the mug. But this was written in Xephos' language, which he knew wasn't something Lalna was exactly fluent in. It must have taken him some time to translate and write out.

He sniffed, overwhelmed with affection.

-

Lalna, who had become slightly worried at the way Xephos had froze, was now definitely worried with the way Xephos was acting. He was uncertain if it was a good or bad reaction. He stayed still as Xephos looked back up.

"Like it?", said Xephos with a warm, slightly teary, smile. He placed the mug carefully on a nearby counter and then dragged a very relieved Lalna into a hug. "I love it".

After a short while Xephos pulled back slightly from the hug and said, "I forgive you for breaking my other mug. I would have anyways! But I do love you gift. Thank you".

Lalna blushed, pleased that his plan had worked and made Xephos happy.

"But Honeydew is still probably going to want to speak to you about breaking his gift", said Xephos with a grin.

Credit to BuckTheStar on Ao3