#if anyone has any babianos request pls let me know! no promises but i may end up writing it

[kybelles]

in which babianos sends his father a very stern letter

read on ao3 | inspired by this post

~

“Why are you not taking me to Isma?”

It’s late. In fact, it’s way past his usual bedtime, and yet Damen is gazing at him sulkily from where he’s curled up in his bed. His favorite blue fish is under his left cheek and his eyes are heavy with sleep. It’s endearing, if he has to admit,  how Damen has dozens of toys by now and yet this old toy who was gifted to him by his older brother is still Damen’s favorite.

He should stop indulging Damen with bedtime stories and toys, probably. His son is four now.

But he’ll never have a child again. He’ll never get to experience these moments once more. 

“Isthima.” Theomedes corrects, lightly tugging on one of Damen’s thick curls. “And I have already told you. You’re too small.”

Damen’s frown intensifies. At moments like these, with squinty eyes and pouty lips, he reminds Theomedes strongly of Egeria and a sharp pain twists on his chest like a knife.

“Kas is going with you.” Damen murmurs.

“Kastor is more than twice your age.” Theomedes replies knowingly. “When you reach his age, we may discuss it again.”

Truthfully, he began taking Kastor with him to political visits by the time his boy was six. But pointing it out now would only fuel Damen’s agitation as he would insist four is practically six.

Damen makes a distressed sound. “That’s too many years!”

“Well then,” Theomedes taps his nose. “I guess you need to sleep a lot and catch up.”

Damen is quiet for a moment and just as Theomedes thinks he’s out arguments, he says, “Baba.” with the sweetest voice.  “Don’t leave me please. I will be soooo alone! ”

Theomedes rubs his face tiredly. “You won’t be alone. You have many people looking after you. And Lady Hypermenestra is here too.”

“Nessa treats me like a baby. ” Damen sniffs with a feisty attitude. His eyes are almost closed now. “She picks me and kisses and kisses and kisses my cheeks.”

At that, Theomedes can’t help but huff in amusement. Indeed; whenever Hypermenestra encounters Damen, she drowns him in kisses and hugs and Damen preens like a kitten under her attention.

“I’ve never heard you complain before.” he says. Damen finally succumbs into sleep and falls unconscious before he can come up with a response. Theoemedes sighs in relief, carefully getting up from the bed to not jostle him.

His Damen is a well-tempered child with a smile always adorning his face; so it’s quite a surprise to see him stand on the deck with the most cross look on his face when it’s time to see them off the next day, his little hand held by Hypermenestra. When Kastor finishes bidding goodbye to his mother and looks down on Damen, the child steps forward and wraps his arms around Kastor’s leg like an octopus.

“Damen, stop being a baby.” Kastor chides. Theoemedes thinks about Damen using the same word last night and wonders if he has picked it up from his brother. “We will only be gone for five nights.”

Damen stubbornly clings on.

Kastor drops a desperate hand to his head and ruffles his hair. “I’ll bring you pretty shells if you are a good boy while we’re away. Deal?  Now, go and bid father goodbye.”

At that, Damen’s whole body goes rigid and before anyone has a chance to stop him, he takes off and runs away from the deck. His nursemaid hastily follows him.

“Well, no kisses for his baba I believe,” Theoemedes says with dejection. Despite knowing Damen is four and therefore prone to tantrums from time to time, he still feels slightly upset that he has to leave without a proper goodbye from him. He leans on and kisses his lover’s cheek. “Take care of him?”

Hypermenestra’s smile is blinding. “Of course, sire.”

Once they set sail, he takes a final look at the land and his heart immediately jumps into his throat at the sight: Damen, with a tear stricken face, running towards the deck this time; as if ready to fling himself at the sea in an attempt to catch them. Just as he opens his mouth to yell in alarm, Hypermenestra snatches him up with all the ease of a skillful mother and clutches him to her chest tightly just as Damen begins sobbing into her shoulder.

Theomedes lets out a deep breath. This boy…

-

“...and I believe we made a similar deal a few years ago with Patrans.” Theomedes is saying to Konstantin. The night is clear and cloudless with the smell of jasmines in the air. Next to him, Kastor is dozing with his head leaning mostly on Theoemedes’s arm. He lets him be; it’s been a long and tiring day and Konstantin isn’t a stranger. “Jase, hand me the scroll.”

Jase nods his head and opens the bag that contains the documents Theomedes asked for. Just as he’s taking it off, another piece of paper falls out of the bag. Jase frowns.

“What is it?”

Jase quickly takes a glance at the paper and when he lifts his gaze, his eyes are almost amused. “Ah, Exalted… I believe this is a note from Prince Damianos.”

Konstantin makes a questioning noise. Theomedes wordlessly reaches a hand and demands to see the note.

It takes him a while to read the whole thing. Damen is a smart child and his tutors always say he’s a good student,  but he’s four after all and his handwriting is atrocious.

Deman- Danio- Damen to his father, greetings. It was so nice of you not take me with you to island. If you refuse to take me with you to Isma I won’t write you a letter or speak to you or wish you a good health. So if you to go Isma I won’t take your hand or kiss you ever again. If you refuse take me, this will happen!

Theomedes reads the note over and over again like the words are going to make sense if he tries harder; and then he starts laughing so loudly that it rings in the air. Kastor wakes up jumping. “What, what is it?”

Theomedes hands him the note, still laughing too hard to form proper sentences. Kastor reads it and then passes it to Konstantin, whose lips curl upwards for a little smile as he reads it as well.

“He’s turning into an incredibly spoiled child.” Kastor comments with a scowl. Theomedes thinks it’s a bit harsh criticism and opens his mouth to tell him so when Konstantin intervenes.

“I believe the young prince is so devoted to you because he feels lonely,” he comments with his usual calm manner. “There are barely any children around his age in the palace so he has to make do with his father and brother.”

Theomedes reaches out and pats his shoulder. “I’m glad you brought it up, old friend. Say, isn’t your youngest boy around my Damen’s age?”

“Nikandros?” Konstantin says with a slight surprise. “He’s two years older than the prince but yes… I believe they may get along.”

“Excellent. Say, what would your lovely wife say about spending the half of the year in Ios?”

Konstantin smiles. “I believe I shall ask and find out, Exalted.”

-

Whatever he’s expecting upon his return, it certainly doesn’t contain Damen running towards him with tears sliding down his face the second he sets his foot on land. Still, he easily scoops his son up. “Hello, cub. What’s the matter?”

“I was sooo mean! ” Damen wails, chest heaving with sobs. “I’m so sorry for my mean letter! Are you angry at me? Do you still love me? Nessa said you of course love me but baba— I’m sorry.” More sobbing.

Theomedes runs his hand through Damen’s hair over and over again until his boy calms down, his heart incredibly fond. Eventually, Damen’s sobs quieten. “There there… you are sorry for the way you behaved?”

“Yes baba.”

“Will you behave the same way the next time Kastor and I need to go on a journey?”

A quiet sniff. “No baba.”

Theomedes hums and hugs him tighter. “Then all is good, my boy. Baba loves you indeed. ”