#ineffable fankids | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

can-of-pringles · 7 months

Text

Compromise

Rating: Gen

Warnings: Angst, angst & hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, family feels.

Word Count: 2k

Summary: Kaia and Crowley get into an argument about school and it escalates.

Note: Originally this was going to be much shorter and no happy ending. Good thing I changed it.

Also Read On AO3

“Please, Dad? I promise I’ll behave!” Kaia begged, clasping her hands.

She brought up the topic of public school again. Over the years, Kaia had asked her fathers if she could go to public school, but the answer was always no. It hadn’t been a problem when she was younger and simply didn’t know much about public school to begin with, but thanks to pop culture and watching TV and movies, reading books, she’d understood the concept of it more. And she had decided it wasn’t an experience she wanted to miss out on.

“No, Kaia. Your father and I decided it’s not safe,” Crowley said, though not unkindly. He’d heard this many times and always responded with the same answer.

“But, why?” She asked, frowning. Even though she already knew, maybe once the answer would be different.

“You know why.” He gave her a look and held back a sigh. “It’s too dangerous, what with Heaven and Hell having eyes everywhere.” His face scrunched up in disgust when he mentioned the names of the sides.

“I can defend myself.” She pointed out.

Practically a lie. She didn’t know how to fight and only had her powers.

“Barely… They kidnapped your father and I. Catching a little kid would be easy for them.” He scoffed.

He decided to leave out mentioning the tragic fact about what happened to her original parents. She already knew the truth; had known for a long time. She didn’t need a painful reminder.

“I could defend myself if I needed to!” Kaia insisted.

“But what if you couldn’t? Kaia, they could hurt you… do you realize that? I’m talking real dangers here,” he emphasized.

What kind of person would he be if he couldn’t even keep his past friends’ child safe? Crowley tried to push down the waves of guilt he felt about it. It hadn’t been either he or Aziraphale’s fault, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any regret for how things turned out.

“I can handle myself…” She glanced down and muttered under her breath; crossing her arms.

Crowley placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

“You’re a child. You shouldn’t have to worry about fighting,” his tone was gentle.

“Leave it up to us to protect you. That’s our job.” He thought.

She glanced away, unable to take his concerned gaze burning into hers.

She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and turned away. “I’ll keep to myself! I—I won’t make friends! Won’t talk to anyone… trust no one.”

In reality, that wasn’t what she’d look forward to about school. She wanted to hang out more with kids her age and have fun. But she had to be mature about it.

Crowley was silent for a second from disbelief. “That sounds miserable. Come on, you don’t want to do that. Besides, you’ve only seen school in movies and shows; it’s totally different. You’re not experienced enough.” He explained.

“I wonder whose fault that is.” Kaia hissed under her breath, scowling.

“What did you say?” He raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his tone even.

She swallowed nervously before regaining her confidence. She wouldn’t back down.

“I want to go to school, real school,” Kaia said, stamping her foot.

Crowley internally fought with the anger he felt rising due to her attitude. “Look, I get you’re upset, but if you do that again, there will be consequences. You’re not going to school and that’s final,” he spoke slowly, a slight edge to his voice.

“I’m going to go to school!” She raised her voice.

“Oh, really? How will you get there?” He questioned, pointing out the flaws in her plan.

Kaia stammered for a second before growling in frustration. She hugged her arms tightly and tried to ignore the tears building up. “It’s not fair!”

“Lot of things aren’t fair, kid… I’m the parent here, I’m in charge and I will say it again until you understand; you’re not going.” Crowley insisted.

Kaia glared and scrunched her face up in anger. “You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not my real dad, anyway!” She snapped.

Crowley froze. The words she said kept echoing in his mind. It was like someone had stabbed him with a blade dipped in holy water. No, this had to sting worse than holy water.

The demon had feared one day he’d hear those words. Yes, he knew they weren’t related by blood, but he was still her father. He’d looked after her and raised her since she was an infant. For eleven whole years, he’d dedicated his life to being her parent. She was his child. No matter what anyone said.

Those words were a betrayal.

Realizing what she had said, Kaia’s mouth gaped open in shock, and she froze. She felt the regret building up inside. Why had she said that? She didn’t know what had compelled her to say the terrible words. Except perhaps just pure anger.

“I… I…” Kaia stammered. Her throat stung.

“Kaia Emma Crowley, go to your room this instant.” He commanded.

“But, I—”

“Now.”

Kaia stood for a second in shock, feeling hot tears in her eyes. She turned and ran as fast as she could to her room, slamming the door in the process.

Crowley remained frozen, processing what had happened. How could she have even said that?

He ran a hand down his face and took a long sigh. He felt almost hollow. A familiar broken feeling, similar to when he’d fallen. Crowley knew he’d have to have a talk with her, but for now, they both needed to calm down.

If he could only make her see, it was too dangerous for her. He couldn’t risk anything happening to his kid.

Crowley left the room, wanting to find Aziraphale to talk about what happened.

---

“Can you believe she said that? I hadn’t realized she was capable of saying such cruel things. You’d think as a demon I’d be proud…” He chuckled bitterly.

Crowley had found Aziraphale in his usual space, going over his collection of books and making sure everything was in order. He had a look of concern when he saw Crowley sink down into one of the chairs rather mopey, and that’s when he’d explained what had happened with Kaia.

“I think she was feeling hurt, and didn’t have a good grasp on her words and spoke out of anger,” Aziraphale said, trying to comfort his husband.

Crowley sighed and glanced away, clenching his jaw. “Yeah, well, I feel hurt, too.”

Aziraphale placed his hand on his. “I know… it wasn’t right of her to say that. I think you both hurt each other.”

“It’s not like I enjoy depriving her of a regular child’s social life! I just want to keep her safe. We both want to keep her safe! That’s what matters,” he exclaimed.

Aziraphale nodded. “Perhaps one day when she’s older she’ll understand better, but for now, I don’t think she can fully comprehend why we’re so strict about her safety.”

Crowley remained silent, mulling it over in his mind. After a bit, he sighed and looked at him. “Maybe… we’ve been a little too hard on her… I understand wanting more freedom.”

“Surely there’s some compromise we could come to?” Aziraphale suggested.

He pressed his lips in a fine line and furrowed his brows as he thought.

“Have you talked with her about the situation yet?” The angel changed the subject.

“No, no… haven’t yet. But I was going to after this.”

“I think that would be good for you both… I’m still feeling regret that this argument happened in the first place.” Aziraphale frowned.

He certainly didn’t enjoy seeing arguing between his partner and child. It hurt when there was fighting. Although usually, it didn’t get this bad.

“Yeah, same. But I guess that’s what being a parent is… getting into stupid fights and then having to fix it.” He muttered.

Aziraphale gave him an empathetic look and gently touched his cheek. “At least you’re not doing it alone.”

“Thank you, angel,” Crowley spoke softly. He took his hand and kissed it.

---

Crowley reached out his hand to knock but then hesitated.

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fine… what are you afraid of?”

He sighed and knocked on the door. “Kaia? Could we, um, could we talk?”

It felt like ages waiting for a response. Finally, he heard a teary sounding, ‘Okay.’

He slowly opened the door and saw her sitting curled up in a blanket on her bed, keeping her teary, red-rimmed eyes on the floor.

Crowley took careful steps inside and closed the door, standing still, feeling awkward and wondering if he should stand by the door or sit down. After Kaia’s eyes darted up at him before looking away, he decided to sit at the end of her bed; making sure to give her space.

“How are you feeling?” He started.

“How do you think?” She muttered. “Sorry…” she quickly added, her voice small.

“I wonder where you get all that sass… it really is such a mystery.” Crowley tried to joke to ease the tension.

Kaia had a slight smile on her face before it faded. “I’m sorry for throwing a fit… and for saying what I said. I don’t mean it… I was just…”

“Angry? Yeah, I understand.” He frowned. “Although your words really hurt… a lot.”

She nodded slowly, not looking at him. She sniffled as tears began to return. “I don’t know why I even said it… you are my dad.”

That managed to ease a bit of the ache in his chest. “Thank you for apologizing.”

Crowley fidgeted with his hands. “I probably should apologize for being too harsh… it’s just hard sometimes. I don’t mean it out of anger or anything like that. I guess I’m just very… protective. I’m trying to keep you safe the best I know how. Both your father and I are.”

Kaia nodded but didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry, Kaia.”

She chewed her bottom lip to stop the tears. “Thanks.”

Kaia released the tension in her shoulders and let her tears go, softly crying to herself. She covered her face with her hands as she took shuddering breaths.

Crowley didn’t want to push her boundaries and placed his hand on her back for a moment.

Once she’d cried some, she was able to get some breaths in to speak. “It’s not like I’m trying to cause trouble! I just feel so lonely sometimes! I want to do more stuff that other kids get to do! I want to go to school and learn and have more friends! Not just the occasional playdates! I want to be a normal kid!”

Crowley frowned and knitted his brows in concern. “We try to give you the most normal childhood we can… but it’s hard. I wish I had a perfect solution, but I don’t…”

Kaia pulled her knees to her chest and hugged herself. “Sometimes I imagine what my life would’ve been like with them, y’know? I wonder if I would’ve had a normal childhood had they lived… I don’t know. I mourn it… I mourn them. Even though I didn’t really know them… it’s ridiculous, I know.”

“It’s not ridiculous, sweetheart.” Crowley tried to comfort her. “It’s okay to mourn what could’ve been.”

She looked at him before looking away again. “I just want you to know that even when I’m sad about it, it doesn’t mean I’m not happy with you and Papa as my parents…”

His heart felt lighter hearing those words. “It’s an honor getting to be your parent, and I know he feels the same way.”

Kaia moved closer and sat beside him, leaning her head on him. Crowley wrapped his arms around her in a hug and held her close.

“Maybe in some other life… I could’ve had four parents.” She muttered.

“You do, in a way… even if two of them aren’t here.”

Kaia sighed. “I know…”

“Listen, I don’t really know how it works or if it’s possible, but let me just say, if it is possible, I know that they would choose to look after you, from wherever they are… if they’re still out there somewhere.”

She had a small and slightly sad smile on her face. “I hope they’re out there… I want it to be true.”

“Me too.”

Crowley hoped deep down that somehow their love for her still existed out there, raining down on her. He knew it sounded ridiculous, like something a human would think, but he didn’t care. He knew they loved her with everything they had. It was evident from Kaia’s old baby books he and Aziraphale found from the ruins of their home. All the notes and pictures and letters were clear evidence.

“So… your father and I were talking… and we’ve thought of a compromise for school.” He changed the subject.

Kaia’s eyes lit up, and she listened intently.

“We were talking about it and thought maybe we could look into some different type of homeschooling for you, something online that maybe would give you a chance to talk with more kids your age. We’d have to look into it more, but if it sounds like something you’d be interested in…”

“Yes! Yes! Thank you, dad!” She grinned and hugged him tighter.

He chuckled shortly at her sudden enthusiasm and smiled. “You’re welcome, dear.”

#pringles good omens ocs #good omens oc #kaia!goodomensoc #fankid #anthony j crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #good omens #good omens fanfiction #fyeahgoodomensocs #my writing #pringles writing

3 notes · View notes