#bc it's them the pookies they're here they exist

[jonathanbyersphd]

Jancy Nation rn

[ozzy-boy]

Scale's life with the Order of the Assassins

my headcanon for how Scale grew up bc he's my pookie <3

tw: baby in distress and near suffocation (it's brief though)

-

-The job was a messy one- someone ordered a hit on a couple of frauds who tried to skip town with a large sum of stolen money. A fairly common sight for the assassin.

-He only hears the crying after the two targets are already dead. In the next room over, he finds...

-A baby, red in the face and screaming beneath a blanket. Panicked, he swipes up the kid and holds it, trying to shush and calm. The assassin doesn't know if his targets had been trying to hide the child- or get rid of it. At this point, it doesn't really matter, does it?

-This makes the job much, much more complicated. No one had told him that the couple he was after had a kid. He can't just leave it here- who knows how long it would take before someone else discovered the scene?

-Sure, he could probably just drop the baby off on the doorstep of the nearest orphanage or church. But it felt... especially cruel, to ditch a child after killing its parents... He may be an assassin, but he's not a monster.

-So, the assassin brings the child back to the Order- to see what the Elders think should be done.

-It's all very unprecedented. There ends up being a debate among them on whether or not it was even safe for a child to exist in the Order.

-They're an assassin clan secluded in the mountains. They aren't exactly the most caring group of individuals. Eventually, they decide to let the boy stay for the sake of the Order's honor. At least until he was old enough to decide for himself where he wanted to live.

-The Order ends up being the epitome of the phrase "It takes a village". Scale (named by the assassin who initially found him, since they were unsure if he had a birth name) was taken care of and watched over by anyone that wasn't actively on a mission. Any assassin in the Order was subject to their fair share.

-He certainly doesn't have a normal childhood. Scale doesn't get hugs or kisses, no nightlights or checking under the bed, not many toys and no other kids to play with. Despite it all... Young Scale seems to love it in the Order, and everyone grows increasingly fond of him. One of the Elder's even insists that the Order has never been livelier.

-He's a rambunctious child and if left unchecked for too long Scale will find something dangerous to get into. After three pulled down tapestries, multiple broken vases, and particularly terrifying instance of a runaway toddler with a small dagger, the headquarters undergoes... intense baby proofing.

-No one is really surprised when he wants to learn to be an assassin. When he becomes a teenager, the others start letting Scale join their trainings, albeit at a much lower level. Scale is mostly just happy to be included rather than only being able to watch.

-He may not get a very normal childhood, but Scale has an entire guild of assassins looking out for him. Giving him advice and training, patching up scrapes, and letting him pretend to be more grown up than he is while someone always stays within arms reach to make sure he never gets seriously hurt.

-Even when he's grown up and working professionally, the assassins who've raised him still baby him- just a little. He's talented for someone so young, and the Order as a whole can't help but be proud of him.

-It's kind of like if your little brother started working at the same company as you... Sure, he's your coworker and you respect him on a professional level, but that's not gonna stop you from giving him a noogie when the boss isn't looking.