#took a bit to get it out there cuz i kept putting it off shshs

[calbeloved]

Trans Kaiser fic that didn't quite work out is officialy done!! It's just a little short one shot about apple slices and a boy missing his dad... full fic under the cut too :3

He likes apples, but only when his dad makes them. He cuts them into thin slices and leaves the skin on. “The vitamins are right under it,” he explained one day; “And those make you strong.” He doesn't doubt that. Dad is big, way bigger than anyone else and he can pick up and sometimes throw him up high into the air. (Even when Mom is angry and they argue over it when he's supposed to be asleep. When they argue over him.) He wants to be exactly like that one day.

Mom always cuts them too thick and cuts the skin off. “I read in this one book that said little kids like you shouldn't eat those yet. And you're my little baby, no?” And then she messes up his hair and kisses his forehead even as he whines in protest- but he'll eat those slices too, even if he complains.

But.

Dad is away today. Has been, for a couple of days now.

Usually, Mom wakes him up and they both go into the kitchen where Dad is cooking breakfast; something with a weird name that he can't say right yet. (It always makes Dad smile though, so he never stops trying.)

Today is not like that. Dad is away, again. Mom has to cook more often nowadays, so maybe that's why she looks so stressed.

He looks at her for a long moment before returning his gaze to the TV. Licks his lips and takes another bite of the sandwich, setting it back down on the plate after.

He chews first before speaking. Manners. “When is Dad coming home?”

Mom doesn't answer. She stares at her phone instead, her eyebrows furrowed. Her forehead is resting on her hands and she's breathing loudly, so loud that he can hear it over the cartoon playing.

“Mom?”

She straightens up suddenly, wide eyes staring right at him, nose scrunched up. “What do you-” And then she falls silent, angry voice and a start of a sentence in a language he can't understand disappearing. Her lips tremble slightly, but a smile appears on them nonetheless. “Sorry, baby girl. Mommy hasn't slept well. What were you asking?”

“Um,” he shifts on the couch slightly. “When is Dad coming back?”

Mom's smile falters. She swallows and there's a pause, and then she huffs out a laugh.

“What, is mom not enough for you now?” She stands up from her chair and sits down on the sofa next to him. “I thought we were having fun today! Don't tell me you want to play superheros again.”

He does. Dad always hums this one song under his breath and throws him up into the air and says he's flying. And when Mom isn't looking, they can turn on TV and watch real superheros. It's fun. Dad doesn't even turn it off when they fight, not like Mom does.

“I want to play with you,” he says instead, because he does.

Mom presses a kiss to the top of his head. She smiles at him and stands up. “Okay. We'll play. But first, you have to eat your breakfast. You're still growing, Andréia!”

He nods in response, a smile of his own growing on his face. Grabbing the sandwich again, he directs his gaze at the TV, and away from his Mother. He doesn't catch the way her smile fades the second he looks away.

They play with dolls after he finishes eating and gets dressed. The dress he has on is light, a perfect fit for the hot weather today. It's yellow, the same colour as his favourite doll's hair.

In the bowl sitting next to them is a mixture of fruits; grapes, apples and oranges. They're not cut quite how he likes them, but he hasn't complained. He doesn't want to make Mom feel bad. Cutting things with a knife is hard, something he still can't do even when Dad is helping him.

“Andréia?”

His gaze goes back to Mom, focusing on her again.

“Are you tired?”

He doesn't answer. Instead, he gets a grape out of the bowl and pops it into his mouth. Shakes his head.

Mom smiles softly, placing Laya on the floor. He stares at the doll; at how her orange hair tangles and unnaturally forms a weird shape. It doesn't look good. Maybe he should cut it. But Mom will get angry if he ruins another toy again…

“It's okay if you are. You can still take a nap, you know. It's not just for little girls.”

He doesn't want a nap. He wants…

His hand finds the bowl again. This time, he grabs an apple slice. It's wrong. He eats it anyway.

He wants his apple slices cut right. He wants to play superheros again. He wants Dad.

“When is Dad coming home?” He asks so quietly that he can barely hear himself. Mom stares at him for a long moment.

“...Soon. You know he has work, baby.”

He looks away, thinking. Soon. When is soon?

“...Can we watch his movie, then?”

The movies Dad plays in are always different, and he himself always looks different. Not like... himself. Mom says he's dressing up like other actors who are afraid to do scary stuff, like jumping from a high building on set. He thinks it's stupid. Dad is cool and should have his own movies made specifically about him. And their family, too.

But above all, he has a favourite movie Dad is in, one where he can instantly recognise if it's him or another actor on the screen. ‘Dad's’ movie.

“Of course, honey,” Mom says weakly and smiles. “Bring your fruit with you.”

He will. He has to get big and strong somehow, if he wants to be like Dad.