No No Vito

No. (31)

Despite Kraglin's confidence when speaking to Taserface, all his worries came crashing back, "Sir, we did just get back. Are you sure this date night is a good idea? What if Vito gets upset again or-"
"Quit fussin', Obfonteri," Yondu warned, "the boy'll be fine. I gots it all worked out. You and me do date night tonight, tomorrow we'll spend our day with the boy."
'And the next day Stakar should be here' his mind added making Yondu shutter but shake the idea off, Stakar shouldn't scare him. He was a ravager captain. Nothing should scare him. He wasn't a meek, newly freed, practically toddler IQ battle slave anymore, he could handle seeing Stakar. He just didn't want to think about it right now, he told himself.
Kraglin sighed, "But another thing, sir, why Horuz and Taserface of everyone?" the first mate already worried about coming back to a sobbing Vito who had been mocked and tormented for hours with no way to stop him. It made his stomach lurch.
Yondu paused a moment, there had been other people to go with, sure. Oblo adored little Vito already and had a day's worth of babysitting him already under his belt.
Then there was also Tullk, who would be having his own time out tonight but Yondu knew all it took was an ask and Tullk would drop those plans in an instant to babysit.
Tullk's reason was easy. The old ravager needed and deserved a break. As for Oblo..... well, Yondu never said he couldn't pitch in, but he wouldn't prefer it just knowing that Horuz nor Taserface would feel bad about pushing all the work onto the Krylorian and then take the pay for themselves. For granted, Horuz may share a little but not nearly enough.
Eventually he settled with, "Cause, it's Horuz's turn. Oblo did it last time and Tullk is takin' his own well deserved break. Taserface is just there to help out plus it'll teach the moron jack*ss to not get hurt on jobs."
Kraglin snorted softly but looked back down to his boots to finish tying them. Yondu adjusted his neck tie.
"Alright. I'm gonna make sure V is all set up with his babysitters, ok? Just meet me in the hangar," Kraglin nodded, getting up to get a weapon for protection, he never went anywhere without a weapon. As of being first mate he not only had to protect his own hide but he had to protect Yondu's too.
He sighed shakily, he hoped this date night went well.
Yondu fiddled with something in his pocket, it was small and warm, seeing how many times he had slipped his hands in his pocket to mess with it. It sent his stomach into a fit of butterflies. Still, he pulled his hand out as he approached his son's room where Horuz and Taserface, who had the worst of his bandages off now, it was only wrapped up twice now so he could move it better, should be.
It was a good sign to indeed see them all there, Horuz holding Vito all the while trying to direct his head away from the little's hand, trying to either bat or pet his beard.
"You didn't tell me I'd be babysitting two of them," the third in command grumbled making Taserface glare at him.
"That ain't the nice way to talk about your help," Yondu scolded but lacked interest, "anyway. I came to make sure the tyke was ok and to make sure you two got the schedule."
"Playtime till dinner. Three hours later, bedtime with a bottle," Horuz grumbled, wincing at feeling Vito finally get his hand against Horuz's beard, still, the little just gently started to pet it. Yondu grinned a bit, nodding.
"Yeah, that'd be it, now, y'all have fun, ya hear?"
Vito, however started whining, "Papa! Nooooo! Wan go wif you! Wif yoooooou!" he pleaded.
"No, son, come on now, yer gonna have fun. Mama and I got plans together, we're going out tonight for grown up fun stuff," he explained gently. Vito, however, just continued to whine but this had been exactly why Yondu came to do this part knowing Kraglin would crack and want to stay and worry more than he was. He simply turned away starting to walk and waved to Vito.
"Bye bye, son, I'll see ya tomorrow."
Vito was utterly shocked and surprised to see the door shut, he whined and looked to Horuz as if he was utterly insulted by Yondu just leaving.
"Don't look at me like that brat, I didn't send him out, he just walked out. Ain't nothin I could've done to stop him," Horuz said with a shrug.
Vito whined again and hit his chest, "W-wan papa!"
"He left, twerp, ain't nothin' I can do about it," he repeated.
Vito glared poutily with tears in his eyes.
"Ya ain't gonna cry, punk?" Taserface sneered.
"Course he is," Horuz grumbled, rolling his eyes, "that's all the twerp does."
Vito grunted frustratedly but shook his head, "I-I not gonna cwy," he grumbled muffledly.
"What's that in your eyes, then?" Taserface asked, with an unimpressed arched brow, pointing to his eyes. Vito whined again and buried into Lest-ther.
"Well, this is gonna be a long day," Horuz muttered, patting Vito's back.
Yondu and Kraglin were on their way to a spot Yondu had picked. The blue captain was greatful for it since it kept his hands out of his pocket, he didn't want to make his surprise for Kraglin obvious.
"So where exactly do you have planned, captain?"
A small grin pulled at Yondu's mouth. It was the first restuarant Stakar and Aleta had brought him to, and he knew it happened to be a date site they liked to go to rather frequently.
'Frequently' being used for a time when he was a wee brat on their ship.
Regardless of that fact, it was still special to Yondu. It was where he took Kraglin when he made him first mate. He was sure to make it the first restuarant he took Peter to when he was picked up, Vito too, and at some point he'd take him in little space too, but, for now, it was just for him and Kraglin.
"A surprise," was the only answer he provided for Kraglin though who simply snorted.
"You seem to have a lot of surprises tonight."
Yondu grinned a bit more and shrugged casually, "A good night, I suppose."
It was Kraglin's turn to smile, "Always a good night with you," Yondu had to smile a little bit more at that.
Vito kept pretty well to his word, he still had yet to cry but it certainly didn't mean he was in a good mood.
"Come on kid. We ain't gonna sit here with you all day doing nothin. We could be working right now but we gotta babysit your *ss. At least entertain us," Horuz scolded. Already a hour in and they had yet to do anything.
"Twerp likes stories," Taserface offered in a mutter, flipping through a magazine he had that wasn't exactly kid friendly, still, he was decent enough to not let Vito see anything within its pages.
"Wasn't asking you, lard *ss," Horuz sneered, successfully pulling Taserface's gaze away from the picture to bark back.
"You're one to talk!"
"Yeah I am. Ever thought to lay off the dessert?" the third in command shot back. Before any further arguement could be made, Vito whined, covering his ears.
"Noooooo! No awgue!"
Both ravagers looked to the little with an expression that was a mix of annoyance and curiosity.
"What, don't like the fightin', runt?" Taserface sneered, flipping to the next page of his magazine.
Vito shook his head making Horuz roll his eyes, "Fighting is a normal thing of life, kid, especially 'round here. May as well get used to it."
Vito huffed annoyedly, why had papa and daddy thought they were good babysitters again? Regardless, Horuz tapped Vito's back with a finger, making the little tense, thinking it was a warning of some sort.
"C'mon, twerp, really. Pick somethin' or I'll leave you here with just Tasie, let him push you around for a bit while I go work, something worth my time."
Vito glared at Horuz, once again feeling tears in his eyes.
"Aww, must not like the thought of being in here alone with me. Looks like he may cry again," Taserface commented, though his gaze never left the pages before him.
Vito huffed defiantly and rubbed his eyes, "I not gonna cwy!" he insisted again, looking around the room as best he could. Since the shopping trip to Little Loves his room had been more babified, lots of toys and such, so he eventually pointed to the blocks.
"We buiwd."
Horuz rolled his eyes in agitation but nodded, releasing Vito rather gently.
"Fine, go drag them over here and that's what we'll do."
Vito had a look of utter determination and crawled down, the blocks weren't as heavy as what the little one expected, so he pulled them over with ease, he even managed to open the bag they came in, after a moment or so figuring out the zipper, then pour them out all over the floor. He couldn't help but delightfully clap at the sound of all the plastic blocks hitting the metal flooring beneath.
The first time all night, Horuz almost seemed to grin, as did Taserface who kept it hidden behind the magazine. With a grunt, Horuz pulled himself up and plopped down near Vito to build blocks with him.
Kraglin easily recognized the restuarant Yondu took him to and he had to smile at the memories he himself built here.
"Ain't getting sappy on me, are ya, sir?" he lightly teased.
Yondu chuckled softly, not having a crew around made him more accepting of those kinds of comments. There was no one to shame him for being soft, no one to threaten mutiny, it was all good.
"Eh, maybe a bit, Obfonteri," he hummed softly, "but I figured it would be a good place given the history."
Kraglin chuckled softly but wore a rather loving smile at the thought, nodding slightly in agreement.
The restaurant was pretty fancy by ravager standards but not enough for them to stick out like sore thumbs. While it essentially had no effect on Yondu by now, he knew Kraglin wasn't so fond of it.
Getting the seats was easy enough, the pins came in handy for sure. They were placed on a balcony table where the stars and the galaxy were completely visible.
"This is a nice spot, cap'n," Kraglin mentioned as he looked over the menu. Yondu hummed softly, doing the same as his first mate but his hand did slip into his pocket to feel the item again. His hand clenched around it, sighing softly, still, a small smile pulled at his mouth as he nodded slightly in agreement.
"Yeah, definitely is, Krags, whatcha thinking of gettin'?"
Kraglin grinned a bit sheepishly, "Soup," Yondu laughed a little, he figured he should've known. It was the first mate's favorite after all.
"Figures," he lightly teased, Kraglin grinned a bit and chuckled, shrugging.
"Can't help it. It was the only thing I could eat for a while."
This perked Yondu's interest. He just thought his first mate liked soup, "Whatcha mean?" he asked, setting his menu down, deciding to get mooba leg. His red eyes locked on Kraglin now though.
Kraglin blinked but chuckled again but started explaining no less, "When I was younger, I had to steal food a lot of the time, people weren't too keen on that. To add, I liked fighting as a hobby. When I was like..... I dunno 9? I got both my front three on the top and bottom four knocked out so I couldn't just bite down on stuff fer a bit so, I started stealing soup from fancy people's restaurants by posing as an employee," Kraglin had always been rather tall.
Yondu smiled softly. It dawned on him he didn't know a lot about Kraglin's past apart from him growing up on the streets of Xandar alone. He was certain Kraglin knew all the important parts of his own past. Kree battle slave, saved by Stakar, became captain, got exiled.
"Huh, what other stories ya got?"
Kraglin blinked but before he could answer, the waiter came up.
"Are you two ready to order?" that took a few minutes to sort out, but then Yondu's attention was back to Kraglin listening to him sheepishly explain how he got his first knife.
Horuz had given his arms a break and more or less forced Taserface to carry Vito to the mess hall. Not that the little was making it easy on them both.
Taserface wore a sneer as he had been outnumbered so, instead of sitting with his rude and crude buddies, he was instead forced to sit with the other two at their typical table with just Oblo.
"C'mon kid, just open your mouth," Horuz coaxed, steering the food towards Vito's mouth only for him to turn his head away with a fussy whine, rubbing his eyes.
"Noooooo! Don't want it! Don't! Icky!"
"You're being a little brat," Taserface growled, "just eat!"
Vito whined, covering his ears.
"He don't like yelling," Oblo mentioned to them, glancing up, "you two are doing it too rough."
"What? So we gotta baby him?" Horuz sneered, before turning to Vito, mockingly cooing to him, "Alright little baby. Time to open your mouth."
Vito scrunched his nose up slightly but stuck his tongue out at them.
"Well apparently he's fussy," Taserface butted in, "maybe he needs a spanking."
Vito whined again, shaking his head in obvious displeasure. 
"No! No spanks, I a good boy," he assured with a huff.
"Nope, you're just a little baby that don't know how to listen, too little to obey orders," Taserface restorted as he got a bite of his own food.
Vito hit the table fussily as Oblo shook his head sighing softly, "Hey, little one, how big are you feeling, hmm? Do you just want a bottle?" the Krylorian asked gently, knowing last time he had babysat, Vito had gotten too small to eat regular food. He figured it was a good guess that it could've happened again.
Vito huffed again but it wasn't as upset, "Baba?" he mumbled hopefully.
Oblo smiled softly and nodded, about to get up before Horuz spoke up again.
"The brat can't just live off of milk. I ain't getting in trouble for 'not feeding him right'. Though, if you ask me, he should be big enough to feed himself."
Oblo shook his head but stood up, going around to Vito and lifted him up gently.
"He will eat right if you break it up smaller," he assured, "scoot," Horuz grumbled but did so, letting Oblo sit between Horuz and Taserface with Vito on his lap. He smiled softly and pulled Vito's food closer, using the back of the spoon to smush down the food before scooping some up and moving it closer to Vito's mouth which the little easily ate, humming delightedly.
Horuz rolled his eyes, "Pathetic," he muttered under his breath.
"Mmmhmmmm," Taserface hummed in agreement.
Oblo rolled his eyes and fed Vito another bite, "Will you two stop?" this took the two by surprise, Oblo wasn't exactly the most blunt person but apparently they finally got on his last nerve, "The kid ain't doing nothing wrong," he scolded, but kept his voice soft as to not scare Vito.
He fed the boy on his lap another bite as Horuz narrowed his eyes, "He's well grown to go to the bathroom and eat and not need to be babysat."
"It makes him feel safe. You two have no reason to be actin' this way. He isn't hurting anyone, he's just being a little boy," Oblo shook his head almost in irritation, "hes just a baby. You have to be gentle with him. He ain't like most of the crew, you can be gentle with him and I know you can. So start acting like it."
That gave the two a lot to think about.
"So I-" Kraglin stops to snort and snicker, "I watch this kid start to tear up in the middle of the fight, see?"
Yondu grinned as he listened,  Kraglin had loosened up a lot and so had the blue captain for that matter. The first mate had more of an interesting backstory than he originally thought. He sipped the whiskey he had ordered, Kraglin had one too, as he listened.
"So through tears the kid tries to hit me, managing to bruise my collarbone but I swiped his feet from under him and he laid there and just started bawling!" the two finally burst out laughing.
"Oh.... oh tha's good," Yondu muttered finishing off his drink. Kraglin smiled a bit, looking around the restuarant.
"I guess," he eventually mumbled, "I'd say you have more interesting stuff to tell sir," Yondu started to tense until hearing Kraglin finish the statement, "what with your time with Stakar and all."
Yondu hummed into his empty cup, glancing for the waiter, he'd need another to forget those memories, to forget in a few short days, Stakar would be on his ship for the first time in years. It was almost enough to make him shutter.
"Something on your mind, sir?" Kraglin asked, finally getting a drink. Yondu paused a moment before shaking his head, going with.
"Nah. Just thinking of how lucky I am to have you Krags. Not just in a relationship but as a first mate and a best friend."
It was bed time but Vito was still having absolutely none of it, making it a pain for his two babysitters.
"Kid, I ain't gonna stay up with you all night," Horuz growled, "if I'm getting the opportunity to sleep in a bit more, I'm gonna take it. You already had your bottle. You've had your little diaper change. Go to sleep."
Vito whined, shutting his eyes even tighter, sucking rapidly on the pacifier.
"You're just being a pain," Taserface piped up, despite his calm, rather casual positioning, he sounded awfully annoyed, "and nobody wants a pain, brat."
Vito whimpered at that, that was why his eyes were shut. He was trying to sleep but the cruel words and rough motions made it hard and if Taserface's words held any truth, how much longer till mama and papa didn't want him?
Before the two could mock him for needing to cry, like they had every other opportunity Vito had to do so, the sobs started. It took Horuz and Taserface by surprise. Sure, as said, they mocked the kid if he needed to but actually hearing it was all new.
It was awkward, neither knew what to do, so, Vito continued to sob.
"Come on, twerp," Horuz tried uncertainly, "what's the matter?"
To the two's second surprise Vito did answer, as well as he could past cries.
"I-I not ty to be pain! I sowwy! I weally sowwy! J-jus' don wet mama an papa g-get wid of me! Not mean to be bwat o-ow pain!" he promised. That seemed to strike some guilt in them.
'He ain't like most of the crew, you can be gentle with him'.
It was worth a shot, wasn't it?
"No, kid, you ain't being a pain," Taserface started. Horuz picked up from there.
"We're just grumpy," he said swallowing his pride, "we want sleep so the fact you won't sleep kinda irritates us.... but we should be more understanding o' you. More gentle, like Oblo said at dinner."
Vito hiccupped pitifully, but asked in a whimper, "I-I not a pain?"
"No," Taserface muttered.
"Of course not," Horuz added, "c'mon. Your mama and papa will be home tomorrow and they'll show you that you aren't a pain. Right now, we're all sleepy, so, how can we help you sleep?"
Vito sniffled, he wasn't quite looking forward to tomorrow but right now, bed time sounded nice. To escape all the negative thoughts.
"C-can I h-heaw a towy?"
Horuz and Taserface nodded, settling into the bed with the little boy between them.
"A-an can..... can I heaw dat..... I a good baby boy?" he whimpered pleadingly.
That made the two hesitate a few moments but Taserface finally gave in, "Look at you, you're being so good for is now. Do you got your pacifier?" he hummed.
Vito automatically eased and nodded, slipping the paci in his mouth.
"What story do you wanna hear?" Horuz asked gently.
"Whaeber," Vito mumbled softly, he wasn't picky.
Horuz hummed and started telling a made up story of aliens that were throwing a party.
Kraglin and Yondu exited the restaurant and got into the M-ship, "Tonight was fun, sir."
"Ain't over yet."
Yondu drove them to a spot and parked them, "Look up," he instructed and Kraglin did so. The sky was lit up in brilliant pinks, blues, purples, with dozens of sparkling dots. Kraglin about asked but Yondu beat him to it.
"When I was freed, I had no hobbies. Slaves didn't do stuff for fun. You asked about my time with Stakar in the restuarant, this was the spot he showed me and made me a ravager," he explained, "yer already a ravager but I can do you one better," he finally pulled the item from his pocket. It was a brass ring matching the ravager pin in color, written in cursive was 'Lokominda'. Forever in Xandarian.
"I can't promise anything soon but I want to ask you to be mine. Forever."
Kraglin smiled and nodded gleefully, "Yes, absolutely."

(A/N: Sorry, making this chapter took longer than I was expecting. I had to stop halfway to plan how I wanted this to go. I hope you all enjoy it. There's a small change I want to make to the story, I want to make it to where Vito was aboard the ship since he was an infant and I wanted to know if you guys thought I should change it where it is now or go back, way back and change it there. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out soon but it's gonna be a crazy week ahead. I hope you all enjoyed and have a good day/night!)