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belethlegwen · 2 years ago

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The Faerie Spell - Chp 5

Chapter One: Click Here Previous Chapter: Click Here Story Directory: Click Here Words: 3957 Summary: The spell has worn off for another little while, and Daphne has to run some errands. Mak's offered to take her grocery shopping, and they try to have some heavy conversations while it's happening. CONTENT WARNING: There is description of non-consensual, possibly romantic/intimate contact. It isn't a lot, but is in there, and may make readers uncomfortable.

The wind was blowing my hair back as we drove down the city streets, a smile on my face as I watched the buildings and the people whizz past at the proper size again.

It had been a couple of days now since I was back to normal, but being that I needed a sitter whenever I had to venture out or risk getting further and further lectured by my friends-- and also that me and Sheridan still weren’t on the best of terms, exactly-- I hadn’t left the house at all except to hang out in what counted as a backyard for our little town-house-complex-thing.

“Can you close the window?” Mak asked from the driver’s seat, and I pouted a little bit but complied all the same. His car, his rules.

“Sorry,” I said with a sigh, turning back around to look out the front of the vehicle. “Thanks, again, for doing this with me, Mak.”

“I was off today,” he said dismissively. Mak had always been a little… kind of blunt, at least with me, but not in an unfriendly way. I always kind of chalked it up to his accent a little. It was barely there, and Cal had always told me that when they first met, Mak and his father had sounded almost identical. Now, aside from clipping some of his words a bit shorter than the locals would, you could barely tell.

“Do you have to pick up a lot?” He asked, glancing over at me. I whipped out my phone, the To Do widget already tabbed to the grocery-specific list.

“Yeah, Sheri took the time while I was having my episode to add things to the list that should’ve been on it last week when I was supposed to go, but I imagine her excuse is going to be that she was too upset to bother getting anything herself while she was off.”

Mak gave a huff and a grunt in acknowledgement and I felt my face screw up. I couldn’t hold back the bitterness, and that made me somehow even MORE bitter, mostly toward myself. This last bout of faerie-fuckery had been… particularly stinging, I couldn’t lie.

“I know she had plans with one of her friends from work,” Mak seemed to give as an excuse. Part of me wondered if this was true or if this was just part of their ‘Problem Solver’ strategies to try and calm me down. In truth I had no idea if they had ‘problem solver strategies’ or anything from that stupid secret group chat, but my mind had been twisting around those worries ever since my night with Gem.

Speaking of which…

“Hey does… does Gem ever talk about my… thing, with you?” I knew I was being awkward as all hell right now, but I really didn’t know how to broach the subject otherwise.

“How do you mean?” Mak replied quickly, almost tensely. I decided now would be a bad time to cop to knowing about the group chat, I didn’t want to make this whole thing worse than I already had by just… being this way.

“Like… has she ever said anything to you about the way she feels about it?” I didn’t know how to word it.

“Did something happen the other night?”

Mak never did like beating around the bush. It was quick, to the point, but there was… some kind of genuine concern in there, and not in the ‘oh god she’s onto us’ way that I was worried it was going to be. I squirmed a little in the seat, pressing my knees to the dash as I sank down as if hiding from the people outside the passenger-side window as we stopped at another red.

“Well… no…?”

“Daph.”

I sighed as he turned to stare at me, his thick eyebrows furrowed skeptically. “Ok, well… she just… she had things set up for me, y’know… furniture and stuff, for when I went over--”

Mak’s eyes went back to the road and he cleared his throat gruffly. “Yeah I mean, she owns a bunch of that stuff, and--”

“No man, I mean like… this was new stuff,” I blurted out, glad that this stupid god damn curse never factored me into it for once, because I felt like I was ready to shrink into nothingness as I tried to explain. “Me and Gem used to talk about dolls and miniatures and stuff and I had seen her collection, like… this is all new and it just… it feels like she had it for me, and--”

“I mean, she’s the one who told you where to get stuff for when you’re…” he trailed off, quickly redirecting what he was saying. “Yeah she probably ordered things from the same spots or whatever. Maybe not for you specifically, maybe just to like… have but…”

He sighed and I crossed my arms, glancing at him from my nearly pill-bug position in his passenger seat. “Isn’t it good that she has them though? I mean it helps you out, doesn’t it?”

“Not really,” I said bluntly. I felt like I could be at least a little more honest with Mak for some reason. Maybe it was just because he was also blunt and honest about things, at least that’s how it felt. “A bunch of it is just super uncomfortable, and she tried to get me to stay on this little couch on her coffee table for a movie while we were there even though I told her trying to look up to watch was hard on my neck, and it wasn’t like…”

I sighed, and Mak adjusted his grip on the steering wheel while I continued. “I told her I would be fine if I was just chilling on the cushion on the back of the couch because everything would be at eye level a little more, and it’d be more comfortable but she like… insisted and I just--”

“She probably thought it wouldn’t be safe,” Mak blurted, turning to me quickly and telling me to stop sitting like a weird kid.

“I think she just wanted to watch me,” I muttered, and Mak shook his head in confusion, eyes watching the intersections as he passed.

“What?”

“I think… it’s just… it feels like she likes it too much, Mak, and I-- do not tell her or anyone that I told you this, I swear Mak--”

“I won’t, I won’t,” he replied quickly, frowning at me with a pointed stare that seemed to scream that I was an idiot for thinking he would.

‘Don’t give me that look, you’re in a secret group chat about me, I’m allowed to think it,’ my bitter thoughts rang and I sighed, leaning against the door and staring out my window again.

“So like… I told her about the back of the couch thing and she said no, and I was trying to tell her that we’d be able to have conversations better and stuff and I wouldn’t need to hold my stupid rock and she just… wouldn’t, and literally said it would be because she didn’t want to keep looking between me and the TV, and…”

It was bubbling out of me, and I didn’t even really have time to fixate on the weird doubts I’d been having since that night that I was probably just blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Mak just kept driving, making weird faces as he listened, his eyes darting around the intersections and traffic still.

“Like, I told her she shouldn’t need to? Why would she need to look at me? We could just talk, we don’t have to make eye contact or whatever, like… but anyway I just gave up because I was so fucking tired of everything that day already so I got on the stupid little couch and she got weird about me moving it so I could maybe see things better so I just kept it where it was but every single time I like, took a glance, she was watching me?”

I shuddered, hugging myself tightly. “It creeped me out a little, and I just… I don’t know… if she had maybe said anything to you that would maybe explain it a little?”

“Gem just wants you to be comfortable and safe,” Mak offered, though there was something in his voice that was just… weird. He wasn’t confident in that answer, but he said it anyway, like he was just trying to get me to shut up about it all.

“It wasn’t just that,” I mumbled, my stomach rolling at the thought. “I fell asleep because I couldn’t actually like, watch what we were watching, and she had a bed and everything set up in a dollhouse in her room, so--”

“We don’t have to like, talk about this,” Mak said, and I finally bothered to look over at him as we finished parking at the grocery store. “I thought you said that she was like… gentler than Cal and Sheridan and stuff. Didn’t you like that?”

“Well yeah, I’m glad she doesn’t like, swing me around or bruise my ribs,” I snapped and Mak rolled his eyes as I unbuckled my seatbelt. “But it was just weird and--”

“I mean the whole thing is weird,” he said, his eyes scanning the cars he could see from where we had parked, a good distance away from anybody else’s vehicle. He mustn’t be great at parking. “She had some things set up to try and make you comfortable, like… would you prefer she stick you in a drawer or something rather than a dollhouse?”

I opened the door and swung my legs out of the car with a huff. “It wasn’t the dollhouse, Mak, it was--”

“Shut up,” he hissed, and his eyes were wide-- almost scared-- as someone a few lines of parking spots away shouted.

“Makhesh! Suprabhat!”

“Namaste, Chaaya!” He called back, a forced smile across his features. He turned to me nervously, “uh, you can… you can wait for me by the vending machines and I’ll be there soon.”

I stuck my hands in my pockets as I took the long trek toward the front of the supermarket, still feeling gross from the conversation as I leaned back against the rough brick and watched him chatting with a woman in a gorgeous… sari? Salwar? As she put her groceries away.

I tried to organize my thoughts a little better. Tried to find a less awkward way to mention that I had to make it into the dollhouse and the bed myself after Gem had fallen asleep.

I don’t know if it even would’ve happened the way it all did if I had just… not pretended I was still asleep when I felt her picking me up after the movie. I dunno why I did… I kinda wanted it? She was always gentle, her hands felt nice compared to everyone else’s when I just let myself relax a little more and she wasn’t trying to compress me into a ball to hide me from people. I just thought that maybe if she thought I was asleep, it’d be even extra comforting, somehow.

But there was something about the way she had pressed me to her chest and stroked me that felt… I don’t know. It felt like too much and it made me uncomfortable only because she never asked.

Well, it was more than that she didn’t ask, it was that she seemed to be only willing to do it because she thought I was asleep and couldn’t ask. There was something about it happening when she thought I wouldn’t know about it that just made me shudder when I thought about it. If she had asked, would I have cared? I actually don’t know, but… doesn’t change the fact that it happened and that it gave me the heebie jeebies now.

…She had been so careful, too, which-- again-- I do appreciate. If I had been asleep at the start of it all maybe I wouldn’t have woken up until later and just would’ve had to go through the awkwardness of waking up on her and getting myself to the dollhouse.

I squirmed uncomfortably, wishing Mak would hurry up so I could tell him about this while it was still fresh again. I wanted to tell him that it was just… really weird that she had gotten into bed and held me, and touched me the way she did. When I had shifted, trying to protect my chest and front from her clammy finger and its weirdly gripping ridges and ripples, I thought maybe she’d put me in the dollhouse bed. It felt kind of like she was leaning do that and then the lights went out…

My cheeks were red and I squeezed my arms and legs together at the memory of just suddenly being pressed by her hand into one of her breasts, through her sleeping shirt. I still don’t know why she did it, like… did it just… was it supposed to be a hug or something? We had done hugs before and none of them were like this and I just lay there with this thing pressing into me and it’s weight pushing down on top of me and I had no idea what to do and--

Did she want that? Did she think I wanted that? It had felt like forever; I thought-- I hoped at first that maybe it was just an accident, something awkward that was happening while she moved me somewhere else, but then her other hand started to pet my hair and…

I had tried shifting and squirming a little to like… maybe give her the impression that I didn’t like it but I didn’t want her to know I was awake, suddenly. I was super worried, all of a sudden, of how the whole conversation might go or what she might do if I was awake and this was happening. It had kind of worked, but I just remember this weird, soft sound of her giggling and pressing me into her more for a second and then I was back out in her hand getting pet as she lay herself down and then just… put me on her chest.

She had asked me the next morning if I had slept ok, if the bed was comfortable. She told me she had hoped she didn’t wake me up when she put me in the bed, which just made me still feel weird even if she had intended to do it at some point… When she carried me back to the kitchen for breakfast and stuff her hands were still really gentle but her fingers and thumbs kept bumping into me or resting on me or like, vague little strokes. I don’t… I don’t think they had been doing that before, but now I didn’t know if they had always been doing that. Had she always just been so… touchy? She touched me probably as much as Cal did, definitely more than Sheridan but Sheridan only touched me when she thought she had to… but her touches were different. They were gentler, but now they were… something else.

It also wasn’t like, overbearing, it just… I mean, I had liked the way her hands had felt before, the way they didn’t try to pinch or grab if it could be avoided, the way they cradled and held and still gave me freedom to move, that it wasn’t poking or jabbing or anything, but now it was petting and that felt…

I mean, it was nicer than most of the other things that had been happening to me, but…

“Sorry,” Mak muttered as he came at a fast stride across the parking lot, looking antsy. “Let’s go, I didn’t mean for this to take so long.”

I snapped out of my discomfort and worries, my ears feeling hot. “Oh, sorry-- yeah, let’s. Anyway, it’s not about the furniture or anything, it’s just that Gem is touchy when she’s got me in her hands sometimes and--”

“Don’t--” Mak stammered, and his face blushed as his eyes darted around the mid-week-day crowd of the supermarket as we walked into the produce section together. “Don’t talk about that, here.”

“I, uh--” I stuttered, not knowing what had changed. I glanced around, was this like… was this an anti-magic grocery store or something? I watched someone with literal sparkles twinkling behind them pass us on their way out and frowned. “I can be vague about it, if that’s better, I just--”

“Just don’t,” he said firmly. “I know people here.”

I felt my jaw clamp shut like all of my teeth were supermagnets and shirked my shoulders in response. I hauled out my phone, opening the grocery list again and just simply set to work heading toward the right aisles. Mak seemed to notice after a while, but the damage was done.

“We can talk about it in the car and stuff after,” he offered, though that tone that reminded me of just being placated by my parents as a child came through and I shrugged.

“I mean, I’d like to,” I admitted, knowing I probably looked like I was sulking. “But if you don’t wanna, I won’t force you.”

“Don’t be like that,” he muttered, though it was genuinely soft. His hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped a little at the feeling of being touched. Mak didn’t do that often, unless you were insistent on a goodbye hug or something. “We’ll talk it out more on the drive back to your place.”

I smiled, it was nice to feel listened to. Honestly, this whole day was feeling just… normal. Mak didn’t make me feel like he was trying to wrap me in bubblewrap or anything, or that he was rushing me or being over-protective or anything. He was giving me space and letting me do my own thing a little, kind of just keeping watch for me as I went up and down the aisles and putting things in my cart, chatting with me a little but for the most part just keeping a pretty companionable-- at least to me-- silence as I got the errand done.

“Hey,” I said, feeling better, the thoughts of earlier firmly pushed aside as I enjoyed wandering and chatting with the other grocery store folks. Some faces were familiar to me from when I used to run more errands, before this all went down and that dumb faerie ruined my life. “We could totally go talk over coffee or something when we’re done here. My treat. There’s this place just down the road, it’s my favourite, we could even walk and--”

“Uh,” Mak blurted suddenly, as if I had caught him by surprise. As if I had snuck up on him somehow, or he had forgotten I was here. “We can’t do that.”

“Oh?” I blinked, scratching the side of my head as I turned to look at him. “I mean… if you don’t want to leave your car here, there’s definitely street parking, I was just thinking where the weather is good we--”

“Daph,” he said, his voice low. He was barely moving his lips as he spoke to me, his eyes darting around to everyone who happened to pass close-by. “You can’t… I mean, this thing can happen anytime, right?”

He mirrored whatever dumbfounded look must’ve crossed my face back at me and gripped the front of the cart, walking to try and continue our progress toward the cash registers. “I mean… It's only been a few days. I usually get at least a week…” I started, confused. “If I start to feel it happening or anything we can head home right away, I’ve got my stones with me, and your coat has pockets and--”

“That’s weird,” he muttered like a hiss, “I don’t wanna deal with that in public, like… c’mon.”

His pace was getting quicker and when he felt I had control of the cart again he let it go again and took his position a few more steps away, shoving his hands in his pockets and tensing up. He glanced over his shoulders and seemed to tense even more at whatever look was on my face now.

“Just… just get Gem to take you sometime. She can handle this stuff better.”

“I’m literally trying to talk to you about Gem making me uncomfortable,” I whispered quickly, my cheeks going hot and that twisting feeling in my gut coming back. “I mean we just talked--”

“Well I don’t wanna have to like… carry you or something, ok?” He snapped. “Stop talking about it while we’re out here.”

The rest of the checkout went in near silence as Mak kept finding people to say hi to, always telling me to go on without him.

Now I got it. Now I understood.

Now I get why the word weird kept coming up, I get why he wasn’t as hovering, as bothersome to me while I was doing things.

It was so he wouldn’t be seen with me like that. It was so he could pretend I was just… there, and that he was around, and that it was probably an accident that we were so close.

The few times my stupid bullshit curse had gone off while he was around, Mak had been the most hands-off. Honestly, I don’t think he had ever so much as said anything directly to me during the two… maybe three? Times I had had to be small around him. He was always just taking directions from someone else to do the driving, or to get things ready, or to go get something that someone else needed-- for me or otherwise.

“Listen,” he said, awkwardly, apologetically-- or at least more apologetic than he normally sounded-- as we finished packing my bags into the car. “The Gem thing. She’s just… she’s the one who’s most equipped to be handling whatever your… you, when that thing happens…”

I nodded faintly as we both got back into the car and closed the doors. “She’s the one who’s gonna be able to like… help you do all of that stuff you want to do, usually. So just… try to aim for days when she’s off work or wait until she’s done her shift or something.”

“But…” I started quietly, but the sputtering and grinding of his car’s old engine turning over drowned it out.

“If it wasn’t just me I’d have been better about the coffee shit, ok? Promise,” he sighed, pulling us out of the parking lot. “Besides, Gem would love to go to coffee with you.”

I shuddered again, sinking into the seat and moving to put my knees back up against the dash before he made a disapproving noise at me about it.

Yeah, Gem probably would love it, and yeah, Gem would be the nicest about it if something happened while we were out…

But the vision of her look of disappointment after I had said I felt like the damn curse was ending that morning at her house, after she had finally agreed to take me back home for the day while I thought about her offer of spending another night with her… the vision of her standing there with little box of furniture she wanted to ‘loan me’ for the bungalow back on my desk…

…The vision of her in a shirt that had a breast pocket…

Yeah, she’s the most equipped to handle me.

Yeah, she’s gentler about it than anyone else.

But it just… it felt weird now.

And I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. ------

Next Chapter: Click Here

#CW: Noncon #Daphne's going through the ringer #and is running out of people to turn to in her 'trusted circle'#something is gonna have to give #g/t #giant/tiny #giant tiny #g/t author #g/t writing #gtauthor #Daphne's Curse #The Faerie Spell

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unkindnessofone · 7 years ago

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5SOS. Monkey Do

Just a random fluff story that came into my head today. I wrote it entirely on my phone while going to and from work. Excuse any typos.

***

An extra addition of Daphne Hood didn't seem like any extra weight to carry. The tiny little toddler was a welcomed and easy to bring along on his afternoon trip to The San Diego zoo with his kids. They always took a few days off when in California and Ashton had promised to take his kids to the zoo. It didn't matter where they went in the world, Molly and Connor loved to be around animals. It wasn't as if Daphne was ever poorly behaved. She always just seemed happy to be out, quietly devouring the wide world that surrounded her with her giant panda eyes. Ashton didn't think twice in offering to take her along with them. He knew Calum was nursing pinched nerves in his neck that made even the simplest tasks challenging.

As far as going to the zoo went, it was largely uneventful. Molly collected facts and dreamed of setting all the animals free while Connor did his best impression of different animal noises along with his Dad. The three Irwins loves going to the zoo. It was time for Ashton to really engage himself with his children and learn what was going on in their minds. He always learned so much from them when they went even though his plan was always to teach them.

For the most part, Daphne slept in her stroller and dreamed of waffle cone ice cream treats and baths with extra big bubbles. Somewhere in the aquarium, the blue lights soothes her and she passes out. It wasn't until they were headed towards the exit that she perked up and paid attention. If she hadn't opened her eyes then, the paparazzi cameras outside in the parking lot would have shaken her out of dreamland. There was only three guys, one of which Ashton recognized from outside the airport that morning. A fellow zoo goer had posted a picture of Ashton pushing Daphne's stroller past the monkey exhibit and that was enough to catch the weekend warriors attention, grabbing their cameras and iPhones to try and make a quick buck by being invasive.

"How was the zoo, guys?" The shortest of the trip asked, walking backward as he filmed the family with his phone.

Ashton always tried to be polite. It would only make things worse if he snarled at them or gave them a million dollar shot of him enraged.

"Talk to me, not to them." Through monotone, Ashton instructed the guys as he kept walking straight to his rental SUV as if they weren't even there. He just kept pushing Daphne's stroller, holding Connors hand with his right, and watching Molly as she kept her head down just one step ahead of them. It wasn't that Ashton wanted to engage with anyone snapping photos and harassing him, he just didn't want them engaging with his kids even less.

"What's your favourite animal?" Another piped up as they took a picture, hoping one of the kids would respond. A video went for so much more if a child did or said just about anything.

As Ashton reached the car, he blocked all three of the kids to the best of his ability, "Alright, thanks, guys." Though insincere in his courtesy, Ashton still impersonated someone kind when dealing with anyone in front of his kids.

Molly had already opened up the back door of the black SUV as soon as they were there, pulling her body inside in a hurry to buckle up. She reached for her brother in order to help him and her dad. The zoo was her absolute favourite place and she tried her best to ignore the noise and strangers outside the car. She didn't want anything to damper the good day she had. It had been weeks since she saw her dad for more than a couple minutes at a time. She tried to take his advice and find the silver lining in every moment even the bad ones.

Ashton rolled Daphne to the trunk of the car as soon as the side door was closed and his kids were safely strapped inside. He opened up the trunk and bent down at his knees to help the youngest out. It was then he saw her peering over his shoulder where the paparazzi had followed him. Her large eyes were twinkling from direct contact with the sun and her smile giggled over at them. Ashton was distracted by her happy face for just a moment until he realized she was shooting the three men double middle fingers and innocently giggling about it.

"Daph! No!" Instantly hissing, Ashton sprung into action and scolded the toddler. He wrapped his hands over her petite fists and pushed them down onto her lap, holding them there. "That's rude." He informed her behind locked teeth. He didn't know if she had no idea what she was doing or if her parents had taught her the gesture, but either way Ashton handled the situation the way he would if it was Molly or Connor flipping people off. He lifted her up out of the violet stroller and tucked her onto one side so he could fold up her ride. "Stop that!" He pushed her one hand away and rested it on his shoulder as he laid the stroller down. He could see out of the corner of his eye that she was doing it again, this time with a single hand. "Daphne Hood, you little hooligan." He teased her with an amused smile while carrying her around to the other side of the car. "I didn't know you had it in you." She was giggling softly like Snow White would when she first woke up as Uncle Ashton sat her down in her car seat and started to buckle her up next to Molly who was rereading the map from the zoo, recalling the different spots they went.

Ashton was behind the wheel of the car, checking in the mirror that he wasn't in line to run over any of the boneheads that had met them in the parking lot. Before turning, he glanced behind him to make sure all three kids were safe again. Whenever he had someone else's child with him, he was more cautious than he would be if the was just his own two.

"Daphne, that's bad!" He shouted in disbelief. "Stop doing that."

Molly and Connor instantly looked over at their "cousin", noticing her giving two middle fingers to the car window, her head turned to see one of the guys still filming as best he could out the tinted windows.

He dropped his two children off at the house they were renting while in California. Molly practically running at light speed inside to tell her Mum about everything she learned. Ashton knew Calum would have happily picked Daphne up after, but he wanted to talk to their road manager at the hotel anyway.

"Daphne, I got to tell your parents." While she sat back in her stroller in front of him, Ashton informed the little punk while the road up the elevator to the penthouse where Calum was staying along with Michael's family.

As soon as the elevators doors smoothly slid open, Ashton and Daphne were greeted harshly by the sounds of Bob Seger. He could just imagine Michael singing somewhere in his boxers with Iden on his shoulders and Emmeline on a counter top pretending to play air guitar. Instinctively, he knocked as hard as he could while Daphne covered her ears with both hands. She was used to wearing giant purple headphones when she went to her dad's concerts.

Inside the hotel room, a commotion began over turning down the music and, what seemed to take too long in Ashton's mind, the rock music seemed to grow into a gentle hum as oppose to a loud roar.

"Hey Ash." Grace swung the door open and revealed their party palace. Just as expected Iden was on his dad's bare shoulders clapping his hands above his own head while Skye and Emmeline were playing Barbies on the floor, a game Grace had just vacated for the door. "Hello Jungle girl." Grace waved down at Daphne who peeled one hand away from face to wave back, but kept her other hand protecting her ear. "Welcome back." She said as Daphne sat up out of her stroller that she been sitting like a quiet ruling queen in all afternoon and rushed inside to her mom.

"How was the zoo?" Grace asked once Ashton stepped in, grabbing Emmeline as she ran over to embrace his waist with a Merida doll in hand.

"It was alright." At this point, Ashton was very particular about his zoos. He had seen so many around the world. It was a tradition to take Molly on her birthday and at any other opportunity. "Cal around?" He asked, poking his head around.

"On the balcony." Skye yelled from the ground where she was half listening to Emme explain what the dolls were doing to Daphne who had no idea what any of her friends words actually meant. Calum's girlfriend raised her arm and mimed smoking a cigarette just to fill Ashton in.

"Can I talk to you guys?" He decided to just come right out and ask Skye even though it made both her and Grace look at him with grace expressions.

"Yeah, sure. I'll go get Cal." Skye slowly stood onto her feet only picking up Daphne when she lifted up both her arms as a signal. She had missed her mummy after being away at the zoo and in dreams earlier.

"I'll come." Ash followed quickly, saluting Mike and Iden as he did.

"Daphne." Calum turned as he heard the glass door part. He softened from the stress of the pain throbbing in his neck and smiled as soon as he spotted Daphne in her mom's arms. "What animals did you see at the zoo?" Hoping to improve his daughter's vocabulary, he asked.

Daphne pulled at her ears and puffed out her cheeks, her silent homage to her dad's impression of a monkey that was always hilarious to her.

Putting out the cigarette in a wine glass stained with someone's merlot from earlier, Cal laughed and then made the face back at er before making what he considered to be a very accurate monkey sound.

"Thanks for taking her with you three today." Genuinely Skye told him before resting half her butt onto a stool. "I hope she was okay..." Skye had never had to check before. Daphne was always a low maintenance joy to most people who babysat her. In fact, Skye and Calum would have liked if their daughter was nosier sometimes.

"She was great. Usual sleepy and sweet thing." Curling up three of his fingers, Ashton waved at Daphne. "I just wanted to give you a heads up that there are might be photos of us online or a video or something." Shrugging, he explained.

"Thanks for letting us know." Cal groaned even if he did appreciate his friend's advance warning. He wished his cigarette was still lit. He hated when people took photos of Daphne or any of the kids for that matter. It felt like a crime, a violation to someone so vulnerable that they didn't even understand the harm being done to them. It didn't really strike him as strange though. The four band mates had a natural habit of warning one another about photographers. It just wasn't usually something they pulled each other to the side to discuss seriously. More often than not someone would just shout "fucking paps" across the room and that was that.

"That's all?" Skye narrowed her stare in on Ashton, looking at his messy hair as she felt Daphne cozy up against her.

"Well, Daphne, do you want to show your parents what you did?" Ashton asked the little girl, bringing both Calum and Skye to give her their full and very curious attention.

"Daphne?" Calum's voice moved into stern with ease as he stepped nearer to Ashton and let his dark eyes pounce into Daphne.

"Noooo..." Holding her lips into a perfect dime shape, Daphne sang so long that she started to sway her hips to her own response. She didn't know what was being asked of her, but she knew she didn't like the voice her Dad used.

Ashton dropped down closer to Daphne's level, bouncing on his knees as he waited for her to focus on him. He held up his fist and nodded to it, speaking to Daphne with his hands and eyebrows.

All she did was laugh and run forward to kiss his hand, petting it like she would one of his dogs back home.

"What did she do?" Skye asked, reaching down and adjusting her daughter's hair antennas.

Ashton sighed as he stared up at Skye from the ground and reluctantly gave his assistant and friend the middle finger.

Much to his pleasant surprise, Skye loudly let out a laugh. She didn't try to stifle it at all.

"She saw the paps and I didn't notice, but she just kept giving it to them." Ashton explained, standing up as Daphne waddled close to her Dad and then sat on his sandalled feet, landing her butt right on his open toes with delight.

"She sees Cal do it!" Skye chuckled and pointed at her boyfriend across from her.

"I do it so they don't want to print them or can't." He excused himself, chuckling as he looked down at Daphne and tried to imagine her small fingers flipping the bird.

"I just wanted to warn you. If it was one of us, no one would care, but a cute baby is a different bag of tricks" Ashton explained. He would want his friends to tell him if it was one of his kids.

"Well, thanks." Calum groaned, his neck killing him as he bent down at the knees to lift Daphne up with one quick motion.

"We will punish her accordingly." Joking, Skye assured him as she went to open the balcony again, the noise of Michael blowing raspberries on Iden's stomach and then Emmeline's welcoming them right away.

"That's all that I ask." Ashton joked back as he went inside to say goodbye to his other niece and nephew. Even though he saw them all constantly when they toured, Ashton never bored of the new additions to their travel schedules. He missed them all on his day off and always wondered how they were doing.

"Thanks again for taking her!" Calum sang out as he entered the kitchen. "Say bye." He told Daphne as he exaggerated his wave to Ashton who was letting himself out.

Ashton was almost all the way out of the penthouse when Calum called him back, his head poking around the half closed door, he was greeted only by Calum holding up his daughter's tiny third digit and Michael and Grace howling.

#calum hood drabble #calum hood fluff #calum hood imagine #Ashton Irwin fluff #Ashton Irwin imagine #Ashton Irwin one shot #5sos ay #5sos au #5sos imagine

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