#ill reblog my h.cs about v.aris and co when i find them bc they are relevant hete

[heirbane]

Okay, as promised.

Gaius knew none of his adopted children as babies. The youngest of the brood, Allie, had long since learned to walk and was shyly trying out words when he arrived in Werlyt. By the time he decided to formally make them his, they were all of an age to enroll into some sort of schooling in Garlemald.

Cid was the first babe he truly knew, but was not one he felt like he had responsibility for. Midas and his wife, despite splitting early on in her pregnancy, found a way to co-parent. Gaius was newly an adult, and was encouraged to entertain Cid, but had never been forced to do more than feed or hold the boy. As Midas's side-piece - as he and his wife never formally divorced - Gaius knew he was getting in over his head, and allowed the man and his babe space.

Plus, a newly 20-something Gaius had no interest in becoming a pseudo father figure for him. Not yet.

Zenos may have followed too not long after, but he was not the first child that Varis and his beloved bore. As he had been deployed during most of her first pregnancy, Gaius returned to his best friend's side near the end, only to discover that Varis's daughter was born asleep.

Used to the blood and gore of war and oppression, Gaius was familiar with grief and loss. He was not, however, used to such things so close to him, and struggled to comfort Varis or his wife. He greedily accepted the next deployment and left the palace, hoping space would help them heal.

By the time he next arrived, she was with child again. When Zenos came to be, his birth carried forth more loss, and while Gaius did attempt this time to be around and support Varis, the young emperor was already gone. Zenos was handed off to a wet nurse and Varis closed himself off to the world.

All this word salad to say - Gaius stepped into a more fatherly role once Cid and Zenos became children, and were able to actually ask for things they needed - or find it themselves, if all else failed. He has been around newborns and small babes, but never in a capacity that required much actual parenting from him.

It's no surprise to me that a lot of his "parenting" relies on just... providing their basic needs and that's it. He has no idea how to truly nurture or provide beyond basics. He can hold a baby, but soothing them when they cried is not a task he's able to do without instruction.