A short IAU fic I wrote for Father’s Day! Just a real quick thing :) Set pretty far back when Warriors is little. Sky doesn’t even live with him and Time yet.
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Sky walked down the street, holding a popsicle in each hand and licking one as he went. He was on his way to Warriors and Time’s place to offer his friend one of the frozen treats, but when he turned the corner, an odd sight met him.
Warriors was sitting on the front steps of his house with a gloomy expression, poking at the grass with a stick. Sky walked a little faster as he approached, and Warriors barely glanced up, still poking.
“Hi Wars,” Sky said, holding out the more melty of the popsicles. “I broughtcha something.”
Warriors did look up then, and his expression lightened a bit as he took the popsicle from Sky. The drops on the melting ice cream refroze only a few moments after Warriors took it, and Sky sat beside him as he began to lick at it.
For a moment, their slurping was the only sound between them.
“...Did something happen?” Sky asked finally, and Warriors looked over, a bit of chocolate on his lip.
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“You’re all gloomy and stuff,” Sky replied, licking another drip. Sheesh it was hot today. His ice cream was melting almost too fast to eat. He wordlessly held it over to Warriors, and his friend flicked his fingers, instantly refreezing it. “And you were poking little holes in the grass, you do that when something is up. So did something bad happen?”
Warriors squirmed, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “No, nothing bad.”
“Oh. Then what’s up?”
“Umm... It’s just...”
Warriors’s cheeks turned somewhat pink.
“...it’s Father’s Day tomorrow,” he mumbled, not looking at Sky, “and I wanted to do something for Time.”
Sky blinked, then let out an understanding oh.
Time was Warriors’ brother, but Warriors had told him he’d been raising him ever since their mother died. Time was the closest thing Warriors had ever had to a father, it made perfect sense he’d want to do something for him.
“I have no clue what though,” Warriors continued, resting his head in one of his hands. “I’ve never done anything for him before, it never even occurred to me. Everything I think of is stupid, or too expensive or completely impossible. I’ve been thinking about it all week, and still nothing, I... I don’t know. Maybe it’s stupid,” he finished in a mumble.
“It’s not stupid,” Sky reassured. “I think you’re overthinking it, Wars. Just... tell him happy Father’s Day. And that you love him.”
Warriors blinked. “He already knows I love him.”
“True. But saying it is nice,” Sky said with a little smile. “Give it a try. Or if you don’t get that far, at least tell him you appreciate him. That’s what I do for my dad.”
Warriors sighed, giving his popsicle another lick. “I guess I’ll try it. I kind of wanted something a little more... solid, I guess.”
Sky hummed, and licked the last bits of ice cream off the stick.
“Well... I have one more thing I usually do. How well can you draw?”
(...)
Time came home late the next night, a simple bank robbery stretching out into a hostage situation and a car chase afterwards. He was hours later than he thought he’d be, and hoped Warriors hadn’t stayed up worrying about him.
He went into the kitchen to find something eat, and saw his little brother slumped at the counter, snoring quietly into his arms.
Time sighed, but couldn’t help his smile, and he padded over as softly as he could, prepared to scoop Warriors up and take him to bed. There was something clutched in his brother’s hand though, and Time paused, wondering if he should try to coax it out of his grip or not.
Warriors shifted a little while he was thinking, and the paper slipped from his grasp. Time quickly lunged cirward and caught it, then stared at the paper.
It looked like a hand-drawn card.
It wasn’t very fancy, but Time recognized Warriors’ neat handwriting, and he couldn’t help but flip it open when he saw his name on the front. There were a few stickers stuck on the paper, and pictures of birds Sky had quite obviously added in, but what mostly caught Time’s attention were the two people standing in the middle, one blue, one green.
They were smiling, stick arms connected, and the words written above their heads made Time’s heart do something weird.
Happy Father’s Day.
Time blinked, not quite sure how to react, or what to do with the warm feeling that was building in his chest. He didn’t really consider himself a father... he was still a teenager, and Warriors was his brother, not his kid, but...
...The title wasn’t so bad.
Time’s annoyance at his day evaporated at the small gesture, and he let out a soft huff, gently setting the card on the counter as a smile pulled at his cheeks. This kid, I swear...
Warriors mumbled in his sleep, and Time scooped him into his arms, holding his little brother tight as he carried him up to bed. He managed to get Warriors tucked into his bed without waking him up, but right as he was about to leave, a hand tugged on his arm.
“You’re okay?” Warriors whispered, letting out a loud yawn as he blinked up at him. “You didn’t get beat up at all today, right?”
“Nah, nobody beat me up,” Time said, leaning back down next to him. He had a bit of a bruise on his leg, but nothing to worry his brother about. “I see you were busy, though.”
“Yeah,” Warriors mumbled, sounding sleepier by the second. “Did... you like it? The card?”
Time nodded, and ruffled his brother’s hair. “I did. It was really nice. Thanks kiddo.”
Warriors hummed, his eyelids drooping. “Y’r welcome...”
He sighed, and Time gently ruffled his hair one more time, then pulled his blankets up to his chin before leaving the room.
“Night kiddo,” he said as he left, and Warriors hummed again in response, them closed his eyes. Time watched him from the hallway for just a minute, watching as his little brother fell back asleep, his breath evening out as he drifted off.
Then he turned, and went back downstairs to find something to eat.
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