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leaderpinhead · 2 years ago

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Trein - Adoption

Mozus released a deep sigh and closed his book. Lucius gave him a small meow before curling into a tighter ball in his lap. Mozus gave the feline a generous scratch behind the ear while he glanced around the small space that was his “home-away-from-home.”

It was a cozy space—with a functioning fireplace, ample shelving for his history books, and an adequate kitchenette to brew his afternoon tea. His only complaint would be being able to hear Ashton and Percival when their drinking games went a bit too far, but that was the caveat for living on the campus with the other staff. Even now, he could hear the two men giggling through the walls, their Friday night drinking already started.

Speaking of time…Lucius gave a huff when Mozus moved him just enough to retrieve the pocket watch from his pocket. The girls should be calling him soon, as they usually did when their stepmother finished her call to Asher. He had a bit to tell her tonight, especially concerning Palacios and his escalating antics with transformation potions. She had laughed off his concerns last week—stating Asher had assured her his little friend was harmless—but Mozus knew he could rally her support when he told her...

A short knock on his door brought his strategizing to a halt. With an upset mewl, Lucius jumped from his lap when Mozus beckoned him. Pocketing his watch, Mozus shuffled across the room to open the door.

He quirked a brow when he found Divus standing outside his door, looking like he had just sniffed the foulest potion he could possibly brew. “Yes?”

Divus’s eyes rudely flicked up and down. “I didn’t realize you owned something other than a suit.”

Mozus scowled at the young professor. Lucius emitted an unhappy rumble as he wrapped himself around Mozus’s ankles. “Did you knock on my door simply to insult my wardrobe?”

One corner of Divus’s mouth quirked upwards. “Perhaps that would have been a reason when I was still a student, but at this age I’m...” Divus paused. His brow caved inward, and the bridge of his nose wrinkled. “I’m in need of advice.”

Sensing the sober undertones in the younger professor’s voice, Mozus stepped aside and gestured Divus into his small apartment. Divus stepped in and quickly maneuvered around the room to stand in front of the two chairs framing the bookshelf. Divus didn’t sit until Mozus gestured him to, which earned him a bit of respect. Divus had been an outspoken rebel many years ago when he first stepped into Mozus’s classroom as a student, but that rebellion had tempered a bit during his tenure as a professor. He was still a bit of a hellion at times, but there was a maturity to it now that helped Mozus have a bit more patience. In front of the students at least.

Mozus carefully sat across from Divus. He made a small gesture for Lucius to jump into his lap, which the feline did without hesitation. Lucius’s loud purr became background noise while he spoke. “I assume the advice you're searching for is on a serious topic. Over the last decade you have taught here, you have never once sought me outside of school hours.”

Divus hummed his agreement. He shifted in the chair until one leg stretched comfortably across the other. The casual posture brought more attention to his foot jiggling in the air. “I know you haven’t made it public knowledge, but Asher Kindle is your stepson.”

Mozus didn’t attempt to hide his surprise at the statement. “Indeed, he is. Though his mother and I both agreed it was for the best he maintain his father’s surname. I had believed that would keep anyone from drawing a connection between us after he enrolled.”

Divus twitched one hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’m not here to accuse you of favoritism. I’m sure anyone would immediately catch on to such a thing considering your reputation among the students.” That singular curl of Divus’s lips returned when Mozus scowled at him. It quickly drooped again, and his foot jiggled a bit more. “If you don’t mind me asking, did you fully adopt the boy?”

Mozus blinked, and his annoyance simmered once more into surprise. Lucius’s tail flicked under his chin when he stopped petting. “Indeed, I did. Just as my wife adopted my daughters. We are a family in every sense of the word.”

Divus hummed and leaned back into his chair. His fingers steepled above his knee. “And the process—how difficult was it?”

Mozus copied Divus’s motions, leaning into his chair and resuming his petting motions for Lucius’s enjoyment. “It was fairly easy. All that was required was our signing a few official documents.” Mozus quirked one brow. “It helped that there wasn’t another biological parent to contest the adoption and all of the children were born in Twisted Wonderland.”

Divus gave him a nasty scowl, but Mozus challenged him with a haughty stare. The younger man wanted his advice, and Mozus wasn’t keen to dance around the topic he wished to address. When Divus’s lips remained tightly shut, Mozus continued. “In the case of Maddox, there isn’t much point in venturing down that path. At eighteen, he is considered a legal adult. I would advise more of a power of attorney status in that situation. That way if anything were to happen to the boy, you would be the one to make important decisions concerning his welfare, not his dubious father.

“As for Yuu...” Mozus hummed. “That is a trickier matter. On paper, the child doesn’t exist. If the headmage fails to find a way to send the child home, then that may become an issue when the school year ends. At the very least, the child could become a ward of the state.”

“Only because the child doesn’t exist on paper,” Divus repeated. His jiggling foot had calmed a bit. “Say there were papers that existed...papers that only needed another person to witness the signing…”

Before Mozus could question the odd insinuation, another knock sounded at his door. Divus jumped up before Mozus could and opened the door without hesitation. Percival hiccupped as he took a swaying step into the room, his lanky form bending like a piece of grass in the wind. He saluted Divus, plastering his pink bangs against his forehead. “Dr. Percival Ellington—Head Nurse of Night Raven College—at your service, ringmaster.”

“I thought I told you to hold off on drinking so early,” Divus snapped. “You’re already plastered.”

“No, I'm—.” A hiccup interrupted Percival. He rapidly blinked and paused long enough to appear baffled by his surroundings. He giggled. “I use plaster for booboos.”

Divus clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth. “You can still recite your name, which is good enough. Come here.”

Percival allowed himself to be guided over to the chairs. He gave Mozus a friendly wave. “Heya, professor! Wanna come share a drink with me an’ Gassy? We’re gonna celebrate Dee being a new daddy!”

Mozus didn’t bother answering Percival. Instead, he watched Divus pull a small packet of paper from the inside pocket of his coat and flatten the pages against the nearby side table. He shot a narrowed stare at Percival before manhandling the nurse into a position on the opposite side of the table. “Percy, just stand there and watch us sign the papers.”

“Uh huh.” Aside from his loose movements and the slight slur in his speech, Mozus could almost believe the man was sober. Until he nearly faceplanted into the table. “I’ll watch real close!”

Divus sighed and pushed Percival back into an upright position. “Just stand there, Percy. That’s all I ask.”

“Okie dokie!”

“Divus.” Mozus stood, placing Lucious into his chair. He stepped up to the table beside the younger men to get a better view of the papers Divus rapidly flipped through. His frown lengthened when he caught the heading of one page. “You can’t possibly think I would agree to this.”

“You do tend to be a stickler for the rules,” Divus mumbled. His hand never paused scribbling his initials and exaggerated signature. “But tell me—what rules are we breaking exactly? You yourself admit the prefect doesn’t exist on paper. I’m simply creating the paper trail to give her existence legitimacy. It’s really no different than a doctor signing a birth certificate.”

“Except you are no doctor,” Mozus snapped. “A child is no mere commodity to be flung around on a whim.”

Divus sighed, and his pen finally paused. He straightened from his hunched posture. He tipped his chin higher and looked Mozus straight in the eye with an unwavering gaze. “I’m aware of that. Which is why I am creating an existence for the girl. On the off-chance Crowley doesn’t find a way to return her to her world—on the off-chance she has no world to return to. As a minor, she would become a ward of the state just as you said. Taken away from what she has become familiar with and thrust into a world she still grasps to understand. Do you think anyone would be interested in taking in a child her age? Do you think she would be allowed the freedom she has found here? Her mind would rot in the public education system, where she will be told her lack of magic is a defect that holds her back, though she’s proven a better grasp at potions and the understanding of magic basics than most mages twice her age. You would subject a girl to that life simply because of a technicality of her legal existence?”

Mozus pressed his lips together. It wasn’t difficult for Divus to become...passionate on a topic. Mozus genuinely believed the younger man could have become the housewarden of Pomefiore dorm as a student had he shown more interest in potion making at the time. Tenacity was simply a nicer word than the bullheaded stubbornness Divus could embody when he wanted to.

That wasn’t entirely what Mozus saw in Divus’s gaze though. The tension in his shoulders slackened a bit. He closed his eyes and rubbed at the sudden ache between his brows. “You could lose your position here if this forgery is discovered.”

“Forgery implies these aren’t legitimate documents.” Mozus didn’t need to see Divus to hear the smirk on his face. “I assure these are completely legitimate along with the notarization stamped on them.”

Mozus couldn’t help directing a sharp gesture at Percival, who could barely stand upright without Divus consistently pushing him back into place. “And I’m to believe Percival is the notary you chose to witness this signing?”

Divus’s smirk widened. “As a matter of fact, yes.”

Percival pulled a stamper from his pocket with a happy hiccup. “I gotta stamp too!”

Mozus should have known. He had watched the two men—then students of Heartslabyul and Pomefiore—run amuck on the campus. Why wouldn’t they continue to support each other as staff? “And you truly believe you can fool the world into believing this child is a distant cousin you wish to gain guardianship over? What if someone from your family comes forward to expose you?”

Divus’s expression barely shifted, but Mozus caught the hard glint that briefly passed over his eyes. “After fifteen years of openly shunning me and pretending I never existed? I would love to see them try. Now sign the damn papers, Trein. I only need your signature to prove it was really me who signed the papers and Percival who notarized them. I’ll even let you witness the papers when Maddox and I establish a power of attorney if that’ll help relieve that rule abiding Heartslabyul spirit of yours.”

Sensing Divus wouldn’t budge, Mozus finally took the pen Divus held out to him and signed the lines Percival’s wobbly finger pointed at. Afterwards, while Divus reluctantly escorted a wobbly Percival back to Ashton’s apartment, Mozus flipped through the documentation. He paused on the front page.

Yuki Crewel—a bit common, but an easy way to explain her “nickname” being Yuu. Mozus shook his head and placed the papers in a safe place for Divus to retrieve. He settled back in his chair with Lucious and searched his bookshelf for a new book to read while listening to Ashton’s and Percival’s loud voices insisting Divus join them.

While he didn’t fully approve of Divus’s methods, he couldn’t deny the young man’s obvious attempts to give the two children under his wing one less thing in life to worry about.

#twisted wonderland #twstober #day 31 family #divus crewel #mozus trein #original character #worldbuilding #this might not make sense #but it's a subplot in my longer fic #because who cares about how the legal process actually works?#plus i take any excuse to write dad crewel #also trein is married in my universe #because how else can i have an excuse to make a twisted version of cinderella :D

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