#If you can't tell I'm taking care of an infant rn

[reki-of-the-valley]

My head is currently filled with domestic/parents Renga and like. That dynamic? The dynamic of Reki knows what to do with a baby but Langa is absolutely clueless and panicked.

Reki was old enough to remember and help in the taking care of Nanaka and Chihiro, so he knows how to change a diaper and give a bath and give a bottle and that stuff. He kinda remembers the stages his sisters went through, like how much time he spent ""playing"" with them when they were infants (aka tummy time or whatever people call it) or having to walk around, bouncing a crying baby when his mom just couldn't go it anymore, either from a burnout or because she had so many other responsibilities. So when it's his turn to have kids, he's fairly equipped from the start. He's terrified, but also. Things come back naturally. The first of everything is a little scary, but it comes back and the muscle memory kicks in. (The lack of sleep kills him though because he was already a light sleeper. Now he's a no sleeper.)

Langa, however, is a trainwreck. No matter how much Reki tries to reassure him and explain to him how to do stuff, Langa is a nervous wreck because what if he does it wrong? what if he fucks up and then that fucks everything up in the long term? And seeing Reki do things with so much ease, should he be that chill about stuff? Is it supposed to come naturally to him? So Langa's just a HUGE nervous wreck who's constantly worrying that he's doing things wrong. Eventually he calms down, realizes he doesn't have to be perfect and Reki's always there to reassure him if he's anxious about something, that parenting is a team effort thing, but he still. Langa wants to be the best parent ever but learning everything from scratch while Reki has a head start? It's not like when he started skateboarding; not only did Langa have that snowboarding base, but also it didn't involve a tiny person who is 100% dependent on him and Reki. Skateboarding was just affecting himself (kinda.) but parenting is. It's a huge challenge but at least Reki's there to teach him stuff? Again? (Reki's still the best teacher and well. There's also his mom he can call and Reki's mom and hell, even Koyomi is willing to put in a helping hand when they need it.)

So basically, TL;DR: Reki stresses because it's his kid but taking care of kids comes naturally to him because he had practice as a teenager; Langa is a huge nervous wreck who wants to be as good as Reki but doesn't know if he'll live up to the expectations set up by Reki. He still tries his absolute best and that's good enough <3