Shady

Tadaaki’s stomach lurched and he looked at Gaius in alarm. Why was Lord Ash apologizing to him of all people? “It-it’s fine, sir.” Should he apologize in return? “Sorry, sir.”

Tadaaki focused on taking deep breaths and calming his racing heart. Lord Ash was being very kind. Now, anyway. Their first meeting had been one of the most stressful of ...

Tadaaki nodded too, following along slowly as to not rush him.

“I imagine she will.” Tadaaki nodded. “I know I’m biased but I can’t imagine her being anything but a wonderful kid with the kind of mom she has raising her.”

Tadaaki nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be hovering for quite a while anyhow. Lots of lost time to make up for.”

“We don’t have stairs.” He nodded. “…Though I guess we’ll need to be sure to watch her here.”

“Oh?”

“Thank you, sir.” Tadaaki nodded. “I’m sure there are many more to come. She’s only five.”

“Yes sir.” Tadaaki agreed earnestly. “I missed so many milestones.”

“Thank you, sir.” Tadaaki dipped his head gratefully. “I really, really appreciate that.”

“Yessir.” Tadaaki dipped his head. “…Though I’m sure it was much harder for both of them.” He just missed them. Sure, so much it hurt — sometimes physically it was ...

Tadaaki blushed. “…She was only a week old when I was taken.”

“…Hopefully,” Tadaaki agreed with a hesitant nod.

“Um… I mean… yeah.” He blushed a little. “We started courting when we were thirteen… had Tasia at seventeen.” Got lucky before that. But that was a detail that didn’t ...

Tadaaki nodded in agreement. “Yessir… it… allows for organic attachments to be sure… though she and I knew younger than most.”