#this is obvs from before the eggs vanished and everyone fell off the deep end

[factorialsotherfandoms]

TW: references to canonical egg deaths. But nothing on screen, just people being sad.

It's a cold night, but Forever doesn't mind. Richars is already in bed - most of the island is - but he stays up, and awake, and working on his base. He likes working like this, even if it is a little lonely.

He hums to himself as he places the materials, missing the sound of the warp as he keeps himself company.

A tugging at his trousers is the first thing he notices.

Forever looks down, a little confused, to see Chayanne standing there, unusually still.

"Chayanne?" he asks, a little teasing. "What is it? Did you come to fight me again?"

The tears stops when he sees the tears well up, sees Chayanne struggling to write on the newly placed sign.

"No, no," Forever says, kneeling down by the egg. "What's wrong? Can you show me?"

Chayanne turns back, holding out his hands. Confused, Forever takes them, automatically running his thumbs along the scars.

Philza is an amazing parent, he does his absolute best, but with an island constantly trying to kill the eggs, such things are inevitable. Everyone has some, and the eggs scar so much easier than most.

Chayanne tenses up a little, then relaxes, then takes one hand away and puts it on his chest.

"A heart hurt?" Forever asks, shifting a little closer. "Come here, tell me about it."

Forever is honestly surprised when Chayanne does so, crawling into his lap. He wonders why Chayanne came here, before remembering Philza is once again away - that he said, while he was gone, to look after Chayanne and Tallulah. Tallulah would have been the more expected child to come to /him/ not Bad, but... Here Chayanne is.

He wraps the boy in a hug, and lets him write.

'I miss them' is written on a yellow sign.

There's a lot of people Chayanne could miss, for such a little egg so many things have happened. Forever pats his head, and smiles at him, and picks one.

"Your dads will be home soon," he promises, though he can only really speak for one of them. "You'll see."

Forever gets punched in the leg. He winces, but keeps hold of the boy.

His dedication to holding him seems to be right, because Chayanne slams down another sign.

'Bobby' is all it reads.

"Oh Chayanne," and Forever is so very out of his depth, so very very far from his expertise - especially as Tilin and Trump and JuanaFlippa's names also appear. "I'm sorry."

He genuinely has no idea what to say, but more signs appear before he can work it out.

'What if I fail again?' he writes. 'What if someone else gets hurt?' 'dies' 'I'm the eldest' 'isn't it my job to look after them?' 'I failed and now they're gone' 'I miss them'

Chayanne shakes with the pen trailing on another sign, face to the floor. Gently Forever turns him back around, finding his face.

"It's not your fault," Forever does his best to promise. "It's for the adults to look after you, and we will. You didn't fail them."

'You don't know' 'You weren't here.'

Forever wasn't, it's true. But he can feel the echoes of the eggs across the island, and he also knows it could never have been Chayanne's fault.

The best and the worst of his father, no? A strong, brave boy, who blames himself for being too weak against the woes of the world.

"I know if there was anything you could have done, you would have."

Forever isn't expecting Chayanne to curl up and cry in his lap, but he holds him tight anyway. He's a little bigger than Richars, but Forever sings him the same songs. They're not ones Chayanne knows, or can even understand, but it's all Forever can think of in that moment - and, see? He's inadequate too.

Eventually Chayanne pulls away, popping down another sign.

'He only said he was going exploring. He never came home.'

"Sometimes things go wrong," Forever doesn't know how to explain this to a child. "Accidents happen, and its nobody's fault. It just... is."

Another pause, another shiver, another pause.

Another sign.

'What if dad also never comes home?'

Forever holds Chayanne a little tighter.

"He will," Forever promises. "He will."