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Smolder greeted the caretaker with a rather amiable smile. Wrapped up on the woman's arms was Rhys, tucked in warmly in his flame patterned blanket. He was awake and cheerful, making gurgling noises as he wiggled his arms towards his dad, recognizing his face and craving his attention.

The Baphomet woman giggled before passing Rhys carefully to Smolder, and the Fallen cooed softly at his son, tucking him in close against his body before walking back over to Aten and Cassie to introduce them.

"This is Rhys." Smolder beamed rather proudly, practically swelling with pride. "He's going to need ... a lot of love. And perhaps a little extra attention ... which is why I'm actually glad there's a potential for him to have three parents." Smolder started hopefully, then took in a sharp breath.

"Rhys is a mutant." he could barely register the words himself.

Aten peered down at the child in Smolder's arms curiously, the small bundle wiggling within its blanket, looking up curiously at the new faces with wide, receptive eyes and fiery hair similar to his dad's. "A mutant?" Aten asked carefully. He couldn't deny how precious the child was. Then again, it was partially Smolder's. Of course it was going to be a beautiful child.

Smolder nodded his head. "Yes. He has ... visible differences that will set him apart from his peers as he grows. Specifically trail feathers, among other things ... but that's the most noticeable one." He lightly bounced his son in his arms, offering him one of his fingers to suckle on, the child reaching up and grabbing his finger and gnawing on it gently with one of his sharp little fanglets that had grown in since Smolder had last seen him, though Rhys didn't bite hard. Smolder didn't necessarily mind the sensation, but it did feel a bit sharp.

Smolder let Cassie slip Rhys away from him, watching her carefully as he gently passed him over. The little hybrid stared up at Cassie quizzically, slit pupils darting over her face and taking in the sight of such vivid pink. Pink wasn't a colour the child had much been exposed to much yet, and it fascinated him. Rhys reached out with grabbing hands to try and reach for her hair and face, making burbling noises as if to trying to tell her to come closer so he could get a better feel of what the colour felt and smelled like.

"I've been taking care of Rhys back at the University. I moved out of the dorm and got my own place for the time being, actually. But I wanted the Academy to know that I had him and that I might like his education to take place here, depending on what the family wanted. So to make the traveling easier on him and to not disturb him too much I sent him here ahead of me and placed a call with the caretakers here."

" ... you were not ready for a child. Maybe as a unit we would have been when we were all attending university, but ... to raise this child essentially on your own and to call us a family when we take no part ... ?" Aten shook his head. "Smolder. It is not like you to be so foolish."

Smolder scowled a little, but shrugged. He couldn't really argue with that at the moment. But he didn't really appreciate the scolding from Aten.

"Well, the portals make for really quick transportation to and from. That's how the caretaker came and scooped Rhys for me in the first place." Smolder paused then, making a rather confused face. "Come to think of it, I should have just used the portal to get here instead of the train ... would have made more sense." he sighed, rubbing at the back of his head. |But, anyways. He's been coming to classes with me, and sometimes I leave him with the in-house babysitting at Asterion. You'd be surprised how many other Nightmares are doing the same thing. I think my generation is going through their baby fever right now. But, once he is old enough I can pop in and out if he chooses to board here, or he can live with us and just transport here via the mass portal ride each day. Kinda like carpooling. Only. Magic." The fiery fallen grinned, hoping that this might elevate some of Cassie's worries.

Aten sat down in his own chair, a little ways away from both Smolder and Cassie and watched the pink-coloured fallen play with the child resting in her knees. He had let go of all his arguments for the time being, just content to watch Cassie play with the small, cheerful boy. Aten could see she would make a good mom, and it brought him a quiet, sort of proud joy to watch the two interact with one another, even though he did not really consider Rhys his child.

"I wanted that to be our cho --- ooiiicee .... " Smolder's brow furrowed as he realized what he was saying. All of this thus far had solely been his choice. He was the one who had went off to university without consulting what Cassie had wanted from their life. He was the one who apparently had ultimate sway over the status of their little triad. And, apparently, over his --- no, their child's life. And wasn't that just it? He hadn't asked Cassie if she wanted a child. He hadn't asked if she ever wanted that with him. He just assumed she'd be happy. Smolder had jumped to a conclusion and ran with it without consulting anyone. Now he had Aten to worry about and his feelings on the matter as well, when this morning all he had to really think about was Cassie's reaction to Rhys. And now he had to consider his not-boyfriend boyfriend's feelings? Ugh, what a fuggin' mess.

"I'm ... an idiot." Smolder sighed heavily, head tipping back as he covered his eyes with his hand, drapping it over himself to obscure the sudden realization and shame on his face.

Aten had offered his arms out to Cassie as she passed the child to him, the kid seeming less interested in the fluffy imp, reaching out to be back in Cassie's arms and making upset noises. Rhys knew golden hues, reds, and oranges quite well. He wanted the pink! Give him back the pink! "I am glad someone besides me said it." Aten mumbled under his breath, rocking Rhys gently in his arms, hoping to settle the child down as he got more and more upset by the lack of being craddled by the female fallen, wide, sad and watery eyes starring saddly at her as he wagged his little dark arms pitifully at her, finger gripping at the air as he made whining noises to be held by her again.

Aten looked a little confused at Cassie's comments. What did it matter what he thought? Was that even what she was referring to, or did she mean the baby? True, the child was its own entity and would as they grew pave their own path ... but for the time being.

She must have meant him.

"Me? This changes nothing for me, as disapproving as I am of the situation. A child doesn't change how or what I feel. I may feel a little left out, however." The Imp smiled apologetically. "I do hope, one day, that we may have some of our own. I would say if we ever get to that point. But it seems that Smolder has decided that you and him were already at that point where you could handle a child." raising a brow high, he stealthily called in to question Smolder's judgement, and Smolder could feel the jab.

Smolder stiffed, wings growing a bit rigid, but he held his tongue all the same.

Letting out a sudden, loud sigh Smolder embraced Cassie fully, lowering his head to bury his face against her neck and kissed the exposed flesh there gently.

Aten raised both brows high on his forehead as he started at the two, blink once with a serious expression in his blue eyes. "Favourite? Perhaps not." He peered down at the child again, which Rhys finally looked up at him, falling silent as he wibbled his bottom lip, moistening it and making bubbles with his saliva. "I think he can just sense that I'll be the only one he can't always get his way with. I have no doubt in my mind that Smolder has been spoiling him without cause and rewarding him probably for thinks like burping and smiling and crawling away."

Aten cast a sidelong glance at Smolder. "Can he crawl yet?" The Imp removed the blanket from the infant, unbundling him to give the child a once over to make sure he was properly cared for and not too over or under weight for its age.

Smolder puffed up proudly. "Nope!" he said almost a little too happily. "But he can smack people with his wings and gets his trail feathers caught in things all the time."

The tiger striped imp paused for a very long, quiet moment. Soon his stoic features started to shift, the hint of a smile curling the corners of his mouth until eventually his lips parted, revealing his pearly white teeth beneath, as if having heard a joke that just made sense after a few moments of simmering in his mind. "It pleases me to hear he has your grace, Smolder."

Again, Smolder puffed with pride --- then suddenly deflated.

"Heeeey .... !"

"Hey, uhm. Actually, Cassie-bird ... " Smolder began, taking a step towards her, a look of mild terror on his face as he tried to address the girl head on, despite knowing based on her body language that she likely wanted very little to do with him right now. "Can we go talk somewhere?" he asked a bit nervously. He was probably going to regret asking, and regret doing this even more:

The fallen stepped forward and took the baby from her arms and passed Rhys back to Aten, Rhys letting out a fitful wail as he was removed from Cassie's warm arms, kicking his feet a little. Smolder groaned, frustrated, but Aten quickly swaddled the baby up in their blanket again and began to shoosh and soothe them, singing in a low, rumbly voice to the child, which seemed to distract Rhys well enough.

Aten lifted his eyes to peer at Cassie, as if trying to say without words that it was alright for here to leave and discuss things with Smolder. The baby was safe with him, even if Rhys didn't prefer him.

Smolder took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for the conversation he was about to have. He felt like he was navigating a mine field with Cassie, but he knew it was better to get the yelling out of the way so they could start to work through things rather than draw it out much longer. Smolder believed in fighting fire head on, and he wanted nothing more than to see the light on the other side so that he and Cassie could just go back to their normal.

The fallen closed the door behind him, making sure it was closed shut nice and tight to hopefully muffle any sound from their argument from his son. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Smolder heaved a sigh, dropping his hand from off the handle and turned to face his girlfriend, no traces of his usual jester-like antics present now that they were in private. "I know you Cassie. It probably doesn't seem like that because of how dumb my actions must seem to you. But I really did have our best intentions at heart when I did this. And maybe I should have consulted you about it. But I didn't. Because I believed we could handle it." Smolder shook his head gently. "But I know you've probably got lots to say. So out with it. Lay it on me; rip me a new one. Whatever punishment you wanna dole out, just do it so we can get it all cleared out of our systems and move on and get back to our lives."

Panda Moor