Work Text:
"Anya, turn the T.V down. You're going to wake your mother.”
Remote in hand, the girl turned around, piercing green eyes alert and defensive as she stared at her adoptive father. He was in the kitchen, spatula in hand as he alternated between scraping at a pan on the stove and preparing what was probably his 4th cup of coffee that morning. The bitter, dark scent wafted through the air and flared through Anya’s nostrils, strong and potent. Her face contorted, lips pursing, and with a (very overdramatic) gag, she tightly pinched her nose and threw her head down into the decorative rug that adorned the floor of the living room.
“Yuck!” she squeaked, “Papaaaaaaa, your coofi smellsssssss!”
“It’s ‘coffee’,” Loid corrected, still facing the stove “And there’s nothing I can do about that. It’ll be done in a few minutes. If it bothers you that much then just…breathe through your mouth.”
Anya raised her head from the floor, blinking.
“...But… I already breathe through my mouth.”
“Agh, nevermind.”
Turning around, Loid watched as Anya adjusted her positioning to face the TV once more, her eyes sparkling as a new episode of her favorite spy show "Bondman" appeared on the screen. She giggled, leg kicking in front of her, watching eagerly as the main character mercilessly punched a foe in the face.
Loid grabbed a plate from the cupboard, switching off the stove burner as he did so.
He hated to ruin her fun, but-
"Anya, turn the TV down and come eat."
She turned with a start, hands slapping against the hardwood floor
"But Papa ! It's getting to the good part !"
"You can watch it from the table."
"But-"
"No buts." he finalized, "The TV is very loud. I'm pretty sure even the neighbors can hear it and your mother is sleeping because she doesn't feel well. You don't want to wake her up do you?"
With a puff of her lip and twiddle of her nightshirt, Anya let out a defeated.
"No…"
"Alright then."
Walking from the kitchen, Loid placed a now full plate of scrambled eggs, a piece of toast with jam, and cubes of diced fruit onto the table, "Now come eat your breakfast before it gets cold. You need to make sure you have enough time to get ready for school."
With the TV now at a reasonable volume and remote back on the coffee table, Anya obliged.
At least she could still eat and watch her show. She wasn't allowed to at the orphanage. And for that, she was grateful.
Anya made her way to the dining room table as quick as her legs could carry her and hopped up onto one of the chairs, eyeing her freshly cooked breakfast.
It was then that Loid appeared once again at her side, this time with a fork and napkin in hand. He placed them down next to Anya's plate.
"What do you want to drink?" He asked.
Anya grabbed her fork with her right hand, while the finger of her left hand went up to tap at her lip in thought whilst she stabbed at a strawberry on her plate.
"I want milk." she stated.
Loid crossed his arms.
" 'I want milk,' what?"
Because of her time in the orphanage, and the time she had spent in different households, Loid had noticed that Anya's manners weren't at the level they should be in comparison to most children her age. Between being too loud in buildings where you should use your inside voice, running around where she shouldn't, and forgetting her "please's and thank you's", Loid had made it a side mission to properly educate Anya on the matter whenever he could.
However, before he could receive a solid answer, the girl had quickly plunged the strawberry into her mouth. Then, she looked up at her father, cheeks puffed as she chewed on the sweet, red fruit.
"Pleashe." she muffled.
Loid sighed.
Well…at least she was getting better.
Loid sauntered back to the fridge and grabbed the carton of milk, leveling out a decent amount into a washed cup that had been in the drying rack by the sink. With the desired drink acquired, he went back into the dining area and placed the cup at Anya's side, who was now shoveling her scrambled eggs into her mouth like a man starved.
Loid exhaled through his nose and placed a hand on Anya's shoulder, who in turn directed her gaze once more up at her father, cheeks full and lips dotted with breadcrumbs.
"I told you to eat your breakfast, not inhale it. Slow down or else you'll choke."
Nodding, Anya swallowed, only to shove another forkful of egg into her mouth immediately, chewing vigorously as she continued to watch her show, and it made the blonde man wonder if she had actually comprehended what he had said.
Since she was content for now, Loid went back into the kitchen to grab his coffee, then made his way back into the living area. He sat down and grabbed the morning paper that was sitting on one of the seats and fell into its contents of crime, town events, and random junk that wasn't very notable.
It was calm for the next several minutes, but then, the screech of a chair pulled at Loid's attention, and he directed his gaze upwards to see Anya getting down from the table. Loid put down his paper.
"Are you all finished?"
She nodded.
"Did you eat everything?"
Another nod.
Sitting forwards, Loid folded his hands.
"Even the crusts ?"
Judging by the way Anya's face paled immediately after he said that, it was very clear as to what the answer was.
"Anya, I thought I told you to not waste food."
A frown etched its way onto the girl's lips, her fists clenching in front of her.
"But Papa, crusts are yucky !" She argued insistently, "They're dry and gross and they itch my throat and taste like codboard and just- blaghh."
To emphasize her point, Anya stuck her tongue out, eyes pinching shut with much distaste as she talked of crust as if it was her sworn enemy.
Loid sighed for the billionth time that morning and ran a hand through his hair at his daughter's complaints, which additionally allowed him to also catch the time on the watch that adorned his wrist.
6:45 AM.
Deciding that the girls' pickiness would have to wait until later, Loid merely stood up from the sofa and walked to the table.
"Nevermind about the crusts," he said, hand picking up the near empty plates and silverware, "The bus to pick you up will be here soon so I need you to go get dressed, brush your teeth, and do your hair. Can you do that?"
Eyeing the girl expectantly and waiting for more possible protests, Loid nearly uttered a breath of relief when Anya gave him a firm nod, turning on her heel to head down the hall. She already had one Tonitrus Bolt. No need to get another one because of excessive tardiness. Not that she had been tardy before, as Yor and Loid always made sure that the girl was up and ready on time. Eden Academy was strict in many things, punctuality being near at the top of the list, so they were going to avoid any trouble in that if they could.
Loid took Anya’s dishes into the kitchen and rinsed everything off in the sink, placing them into the dishwasher after he did so. Then, he wiped up the countertop, the dining room table (Anya was sometimes a messy eater), and even brewed himself another cup of coffee to enjoy with the rest of his morning paper.
Before he could sit down however, Anya appeared, her small body standing behind the wall at the entrance of the living room. Loid caught her gaze, and smiled satisfactorily.
She seemed to be fully dressed in the acceptance of her shoes and he knew her backpack was already packed and waiting by the front door.
He glanced at his watch again.
6:55 AM. Nearly right on schedule.
“That was fast,” he stated, leaning against the countertop, “Are you all ready to go?”
Anya pressed her lips together and slowly directed her gaze down at the floor, which caused Loid to tilt his head in confusion. She had seemed fine just 10 minutes ago, with nothing out of the ordinary. Why the sudden change?
Loid examined her face a little more. The lowered eyes, the reddened cheeks.
“Is she…embarrassed about something ?” he thought.
However, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Anya further entered the room, brows furrowed and head now raised, her lips parting as if she wanted to speak. But that all disappeared in a flash, replaced once more by the expression from before as she shyly looked down at the ground, clearly hesitant about whatever she wanted to say.
Taking a few steps forward, Loid crouched down to the girl’s level.
“Anya,” he asked gently, “Is there something wrong?”
And it was then that he noticed that she was holding something behind her back. He couldn’t quite tell what it was. All he could see was that it was pink in color and it had a handle. He hadn’t heard any loud noises so she couldn’t have broken something, and that was usually the cause of any troubled state she had ever been in.
This had to be something different.
“Hey, if there’s something the matter then you know you can tell me, right?” Loid reassured, “I know we haven’t been…together for long, but I still want to help you if you need it. Are you worried about something or scared or-?”
“I can’t reach it.”
She had said it so quietly that he almost didn’t hear, but nonetheless, Loid stopped speaking and tilted his head once more at the young girl.
“Huh?” he inquired, “Can’t reach what?”
It was then that Anya extended the arm that had been behind her back to reveal what she had been hiding
A brush. Small and pink with black bristles laid in her palm, and Loid’s eyes widened a bit as he looked back up at Anya’s face, her green eyes still directed towards the ground..
“I can’t reach the back of my hair,” she mumbled, “It’s too hard. Before, older girls at the orphanage used to help me and now Mama helps me after I do the front by myself but she’s asleep ‘cause she’s sick so…”
Pushing the brush forwards, Anya raised her head.
“Since there’s no one else…uhm…will you…will you help me please…Papa?”
Now, Loid wasn’t affected by a lot. His heart had been closed off by certain things ever since he was younger. Breaking up with past girlfriends for missions had been easy, friends who had been injured and killed in the lines of his work hadn’t phazed him all that much…
But seeing this little girl…HIS little girl…asking for help to brush her hair was a whole new type of sensation. Maybe because of how simple a task it was? Or because it wasn’t like something he had ever done before?
Or was it because this was something that parents do? Something that…Father’s do?
It flipped a switch inside Loid’s head, and before he knew it, he was taking the brush out of Anya’s hand and leading her to the bathroom.
He had willingly taken on the role as a Father months ago,ready for whatever the position had to offer him, so if he couldn’t help his daughter get ready for school…
Then what kind of father would he be?
Once in the bathroom, Anya stepped up onto her stool and Loid stood behind her, a gentle hand setting atop her head as he began guiding the brush through her pink locks.
Because it was on the shorter side, there weren’t too many tangles. In fact, from his hand on her head, Loid noticed that it was rather soft.
“That must be from Yor’s doing.” he figured, “Since she helps Anya with her baths, then she must help her wash her hair too. Usually, kids have unruly hair that’s hard to maintain. Even I wasn’t an exception. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here…Yor really handles it well.”
Suddenly, Anya seemed to perk up a bit, her head slightly moving from side to side.
“Mama always puts stuff in my hair after I take a bath.”
“Oh really?” Loid asked, “What kind of stuff?”
“I don’t really know…”
Using her hands, Anya began making gestures in the mirror.
“It’s in a red bottle with a small hole and when you press the top it sprays out.” She explained, “But it smells really good. Like candy! And Mama always puts it in my hair after we wash it. I think she called it duh-tangiler or something.”
Ah, detangler. That made sense.
“I see. So you like spending time with Mama then, don’t you?”
“Mmhm! I do! It’s lots of fun! ” she nodded, “But…”
Loid stopped brushing.
“But what?”
Slowly, Anya turned around, her eyes staring up at her father with a certain brightness. She raised her arms.
“I like spending time with you too, Papa!”
“A-Anya…”
Placing the brush on the sink, Loid watched as the girl happily hopped down from the stool, spinning about with a happy smile plastered to her face.
“I like playing hide and seek with you and sitting on your shoulders when we go on ootings ! And going shopping cuz you always buy me peanuts! And I like when you cook cuz Mama always burns my toast when she makes me breakfast, and she doesn’t put enough milk in my cereal. And when she brushes my hair, she sometimes does it too hard and it kinda hurts. You did it wayyyyyy better! ”
However, as soon as she said that, she froze, and slowly looked at the bathroom’s doorway. When she saw no one was there, she gestured Loid to come closer with her index finger. When he was at her level, she cupped a hand around her mouth and whispered quiet words into his ear.
“Don’t tell Mama I said that tho…I don’t wanna hurt her feelings.”
Chuckling lightly under his breath, Loid placed a reassuring hand on Anya’s shoulder. Kids do indeed say the darndest things. But nonetheless-
“Don’t worry.” he eased with a smile, “My lips are sealed.”
~~~~~~~
After about another 10 minutes, Anya was fully ready to go, and both she and Loid left the apartment for the bus stop right on time.
It was still a bit of an unnerving walk since they almost always got stares from other people, as if they couldn’t believe that a child in their neighborhood went to the prestigious Eden Academy. But Anya never once batted an eyelash since, according to her, being a student there meant that she was a “Smart Cookie”. She had heard the term from somewhere, and thus claimed that she wanted to be smart and she liked cookies so…there really couldn’t be a better combination.
It was admirable really, as even though Anya was far from how other children acted, there were certain attributes she had that Loid had made mental note of over their time together.
She was stupid perceptive, imaginative, and was about as positive as could be. Grim situations didn’t phase her in the slightest, and she wasn’t intimidated by much. She could be kind of an airhead though, super clumsy, and spoke her mind in the most obscene circumstances.
But hey.
No one was born perfect.
“I see the bus, Papa.”
From his spot on the bench (for they had been so early that they had had a few minutes to spare so Loid took up to reading more of the newspaper he had brought with him), he could see that Anya was right. The bus was slowly rolling towards them on the street, stopping for passersby’s and other cars, and before they knew it, it had arrived right in front of them.
The door opened and Anya shimmied on her backpack that she had laid on the ground for the time being, while Loid stood up from the bench and stuffed the now folded up newspaper under his arm.
“Do you have everything?” he asked.
Anya saluted, “Yep!”
“Okay. Have a good day, alright? I’ll be right here to pick you up later.”
Nodding firmly, the girl turned on her heel and walked up the steps of the school bus, the doors closing behind her soon after. And with the huff and puff of the engine, the bus pulled from the sidewalk and started on its way down the street.
With a satisfied sigh, Loid straightened his hat and turned to walk the opposite way, only to catch the distant, squeaky voice of someone calling after him.
And it wasn’t his exact name that he heard. Instead, it was the name only permitted to be used by only 1, special individual.
“Bye bye Papa ! See you after school ! I love you !”
With a start, he turned around just in time to see Anya’s little face and hand peeking from out one of the bus’s back windows as she waved at him to the best of her abilities.
For the second time that morning, Loid felt a spark of something shoot through his chest. A sort of…proudness within himself, a sense of accomplishment…or maybe even a sense of belonging. So it felt nothing short of natural to also raise his hand, fingers flared as he waved back while speaking one, final sentence as the bus disappeared behind a rounded corner.
“I love you too, Anya.”
Mission: Get Anya To School By Himself.
Success.