Room 302, Sunday Morning

[not_a_moonie]

Alana had a kid this weekend, and the kid was weird. For one thing, she wouldn't take off this stupid baseball cap -- which was extra-weird for a kid who came from a planet without baseball. She'd even fallen asleep with one hand holding it tight to her head so it wouldn't come off

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante had spent at least half of yesterday entertaining two kids - though Janie had turned out to be a remarkable kid-wrangler all by herself - and one for the rest of the day, all the while avoiding Ada.

Now the kid was asleep back in his room, and he was still avoiding Ada.

He made a calculated guess as to where the least WTFery would be taking place, settled on Alana's, and got the hell out of dodge. Just for half an hour or so, then he'd be heading back; he was good at improvising his way through this shit, but he had limits.

Which was a long and roundabout way of saying he was at Alana's door now, knocking.

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"I'll get it!" a small-girl voice said from behind the door, and -- before anyone could have answered -- the door was open, and Dante was looking down at a six-year-old with dark shoulder-length hair, a baseball cap, and a set of black wings poking over her shoulders.

"Hi," she said. "Who're you?"

Alana gave an apologetic shrug but stayed quiet. (She also crossed Dante off a mental list of possible fathers -- not that he'd been very high on it to start with.)

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante blinked owlishly twice - his reaction time on the kids was speeding up - before shrugging lightly and grinning. "I'm Dante," he said. "And you are...?"

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"Hazel," Hazel said. "This is my mom's room. Do you know my mom?"

"It's okay, Haze," Alana supplied, coming off the bed and going to rest a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "Dante's a friend."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante flashed Alana a quick, grateful smile. "Yeah, I've known her for a while," he said. "She's pretty cool, huh?"

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"I guess," Hazel said, with a sidelong glance to Alana. Her mother had been on Open Circuit, which most people thought was cool, but Hazel had been too little to remember watching it. Izabel was the cool one, as far as she was concerned. "Can moms be cool?"

"Hey, I'm cool!" Alana protested. "I am extremely cool. Even with a kid tagging along."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Don't call your mom uncool," Dante said, mock-stern. "One, it's mean, and two, she doesn't deserve it."

[not_a_moonie]

"What he said," Alana nodded. "And if you're mean to me, no candy all weekend."

Over a pouting Hazel's head, she added a quiet, "Thanks. And don't worry, she's not yours. I'm about 99 percent certain."

"I told you, Dad's never been to Fandom," Hazel interjected. "But I can't say who he is 'cause it's gotta be a surprise."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante nodded. His expression held a faint relief, though he was trying to hide it.

It wasn't personal.

"Oh, you're one of those kids," he said, stepping into the room. "You like playing it all mysterious?"

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"Sometimes," Hazel said candidly. "Sometimes not talking about things is really hard and my stomach starts to hurt. Does your stomach ever hurt from not talking about stuff?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sometimes," Dante said. She was just a kid, so answering her truhtfully didn't mean anything. "But then I just go do something else and forget about it."

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"I try that," Hazel nodded, tilting her head to the side. "Like drawing. Or talking to people about other stuff."

Alana, meanwhile, looked worried. Why did her six-year-old have so much in her life to make her stomach hurt.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante could think of a whole host of reasons, but sharing them wouldn't be making Alana feel any better about it. "You feel better after that?" he asked.

[tooty_stinkfoot]

"Sometimes," Hazel said. "Sometimes I just have to wait until I forget."

Alana inhaled sharply. "Hey, maybe we should go get pizza," she suggested. "Or tacos. You'll like tacos, Hazel."

(When her emotions were in chaos, she went for food or sex. And sex was right out just then.)

[rebelseekspizza]

(Another reason they got along, probably.)

"Tacos are good," Dante said, and didn't make the joke because he had some idea of what to do around kids. Not a lot, but some. "I haven't had lunch yet, either. Might have to see about bringing Janie with me, though."

[not_a_moonie]

"Oh, is Janie yours?" Alana asked, before Hazel could jump in again. "Who's mom? Or is she another super-secret kid?"

Hazel ... sighed. Deeply.