#for context if it matters Atticus is meant to be about 6 or 7 here

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

A sad interaction I imagined with Goldenheart's child and Nimona

This could work with any fanchild but I used mine (Atticus He is just baby comic Ambrosius I ripped off his design and personality I thought he was cute and wanted to give a version of him a family leave me alone) because reasons, but-

We all know Nimona has trauma regarding children seeing her as a monster. Now imagine: Goldenheart baby AKA Nimona's little sibling/nibling/godchild accidentally triggers that trauma when they just wanted to play

Nimona thought things were going perfectly since Atticus was adopted. She loved playing with him no matter how rowdy he got. Ballister went to work during the day, Ambrosius stayed home, kept track of things, watched and cared for Atticus, and sometimes Nimona did her own thing, but sometimes she'd help him out by playing with the boy for a little while. He loved to play with her. Until one occasion, he caught her off guard.

Ambrosius was prepping the vegetables for dinner-- he couldn't cook, but he tried to be of help by having the ingredients ready when Ballister got home-- and Nimona was sitting on the living room floor playing a video game. She heard his excited voice off to the side. "Nimona! I wanna play a game!"

"Sure thing, Sport, what game?" She wasn't really paying attention. She heard his giggles as he ran towards her. "Monster attack!" Her eyes widened, and he jumped on her swinging his wooden sword at her. "Monster attack!"

In a flash and without thinking, she smacked the sword out of his grasp and grabbed his wrist, teeth sharp and eyes narrow and glowing, "Do not call me that! I am not playing that game with you, you get that sword out of my face and you keep it that way, do you understand!?"

Immediately she realized what she'd done when he stared at her with fear and shock in his wide green eyes, and then his face crumpled as he started to cry.

"No, nonono, hey, Kit, it's okay," she softened her appearance and released his wrist, pulling him in for a hug. "Don't be scared of me, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry." She rubbed his back while he sobbed.

Ambrosius ran over, and Nimona winced, ready for him to yell at her or kick her out or do anything for making his child cry, but he just rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder before extracting his son from her arms. "Hey, buddy, hey, it's okay." He sat on the sofa and held him tightly, rubbing his back. "I'm sorry Nimona scared you, I know she didn't mean it. I think you startled her. You can't just run up to people and tackle them with swords, if you ask if they want to play a game with you, you have to tell them what game and wait for them to say yes before you start. I don't think Nimona wanted to play that game with you. We'll just be more careful next time, right?" He stroked his hair while Atticus blubbered.

He wiped his little eyes with his fists, hiccuping. "I– didn't– mean– to!" Ambrosius kissed his forehead. "I know. Where did you hear about that game? Monsters aren't real, baby. There is no such thing as a monster attack."

He sniffled, "I was just playing pretend! I th-thought she could tu- turn into a cool monster and we could play." Nimona looked down. If Atticus believed in monsters, what did he believe she was if not something to be attacked?

Ambrosius kissed his head. "Monster is just a mean word that people use to refer to what they don't understand. There was a time not long ago where people, including me, didn't understand a whole lot. And because of your Papa and Nimona, we do now. We know better than to call people monsters."

Atticus hiccupped again and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, Mimona. I didn't mean to call you a mean name!"

"You're good, buddy. I'm sorry I knocked your sword away and yelled at you. We'll play something else next time."

Nimona knew he probably didn't listen much to the lecture. He hadn't meant anything hateful or prejudiced, he just wanted to play a game. But she heard the lecture her once-nemesis gave. And she appreciated it.