driftfleet | hail the orphan king(s)

Who: Dean and uh.... a wee Sam Winchester
Broadcast: fleetwide!
Action: Red Fish
When: nooww

[ Dean looks ultimately..... tired. And vaguely grumpy, but when does he not look like either of those things. Though it could be said he has good reason for this as there is a toddler-sized child in his arms, preoccupied with screeching and reaching desperately for the ground. It's shouting his name on repeat 'Dean, dowwn, Dean, dooowwn!' but as soon as he puts the child back on the floor, he's immediately reaching back up again, tugging on Dean's jacket, arms reaching for the sky.

'Dean! Deaaan!'

Truth be told, this is not actually something unfamiliar to him.

It's just something that feels as if it happened a million years ago. ]

Looking for some place to take a kid. [ Wait, let's rephrase. ] Not to dump him, but to get him outside.

Don't feel like cramping him up in here while we've got the chance to get out and-- haven't exactly toured the place much. Just want to get him out without having to deal with... anything. Keep him in here and he'll find his way to the armory when i'm not looking.

[ You think he's kidding. Winchesters and guns are like peanut butter and jelly.... give Dean another second while he swaps the kiddo from one hip to another, almost like he's done this once or twice before. It almost even looks like he's doing that bouncing-baby thing. ]

I'd appreciate the advice.

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[Kaworu knows only the barest fraction about children, and even then, barely that. But he's at least trying to speak from experience: there was a time when he was little, too, and at that time... Well,]

Swimming, perhaps.

[His face is noticeably enthralled, despite that ever-present composure.]

[ Dean is not sure if he's enthralled by this turn of events, but he's kind of pleased Sam has changed tactics when it comes to exactly how he's following him around. Even with this up and down nonsense, he's not overly bothered.

Kid is cute though, he'll give him that. ]

There a place with a shallow end?

[Though pleasant as ever, Kaworu's face takes a turn for the quizzical... and then his thought process plays out across his features: he's coming to a place of common sense, in slow motion.

Finally he arrives: ]

He has trouble swimming?

At this age he can't exactly do a swan dive, if that's what you mean.

[ At least, Dean doesn't think so. He could be wrong, he doesn't remember them swimming much when they were kids. At least not for fun. ]

["Swan dive" is a little too idiomatic for Kaworu—he's never heard the phrase before—so he doesn't really understand it... but he'll gloss over that, for now, able to get at least the gist from context. There are more important things at hand, like... how buoyant, exactly, are Lilin?

Now, Kaworu has been "swimming" since before he can remember... but Asuka pointed out to him that LCL isn't really like water, so it doesn't quite count. When did Kaworu first swim in water? He can at least recall showers given with caution, and alongside that... ... ...

He lights up.]

A bathtub?

[ Dean's eyes alight just enough because duh, that seems such an obvious thing, but staying in motel rooms didn't always imply bathtubs. And living in abandoned houses generally meant no real plumbing, so bathtubs were a luxury that weren't always found.

Not to mention- living his life the past five years, water was a commodity that hardly existed, and so baths? Not the first thing that comes to mind. ]

Definitely be taking that suggestion.

[He won't voice it, but that gives Kaworu an unreasonable amount of pride. It's ridiculous, and he knows it's ridiculous, but it feels good to hear that he had a good idea for a child. Like maybe he's still got some sort of functioning maternal instinct. Like he could have done well with children if he'd tried.

What he says instead of any of that is,] I'm glad. [Selfishly, though, it doesn't feel like enough. He wants more satisfaction; he wants to provide more good ideas. He's very intent on thinking...]

It's especially good, [he says slowly,] if, afterward, you put him into a very, very soft towel.

[ The kid's being more than pleasantly helpful, Dean'll give him that. He's not entirely sure why he's trying so hard to come up with possible ideas but Dean had asked and so he figures he's just simply trying to be useful and then some, like anyone who cared about kids might be.

Though, it's not so much that Dean cares about kids as he cares about this one in particular, and while he isn't usually inclined to take help where it comes to baby Sam - thinking he knows best and all that - right now, the advice is appreciated.

And okay, that almost gets a laugh. Not because it's a bad idea, but because it's just so damn endearing. ]

You know where I can find one?

[Quietly, Kaworu wiggles his toes, curls and uncurls them. It has to be his toes, because his toes, thankfully, are unseen, and Kaworu is someone who presents himself as entirely composed ninety-nine percent of the time. There's no way he can let this person see his apprehension, the shyness of his nerves. Thank goodness for his legendary poker face.]

Did you know there are stores which deal entirely in linens? I think that's amazing. I wouldn't mind going and finding the best possible towel, myself... [A quiet breath, and he's smiling as pleasantly as he can.] Because a child needs a lot of attention, doesn't it?

[Granted it's probably at least a little sketchy for a near stranger to want to spoil a child; but Kaworu has zero social awareness about stuff like this, and he's just amazed by kids in general, having never dealt with them before being with the Fleet. Either way, he looks like a high schooler at best, so hopefully he's not giving off too many creepy old man vibes.]

[ Your poker face is excellent, dude, Dean suspects nothing. ]

Haven't had the chance to go look around much, but i'll take your word for it. [ He tries to shrug a shoulder but Sammy's leaned up against it and is halfway tugging on his shirt at the same time, like he's trying to get Dean's attention before he points off at nothing in particular. Which is right around when Dean takes his little hand and holds it; god he's a sucker for this kid. ] I mean, yeah- they do. Got nothing better to do than give it to him.

But hey, if you want to go find him the best towel on the planet, I'll leave it up to you. I could meet you somewhere?

[ He isn't giving off creepy vibes so much as overly invested ones and while Dean doesn't quite get it, he isn't bothered either. Some people are just kind of fascinated by kids, and while Dean's never really been, he's always been kind of good with them. So he gets it while simultaneously not, understanding the need to be caring towards something so little. ]

["The best towel on the planet"—Kaworu's not too well versed in hyperbole, either, so he takes that entirely seriously, and is firmly dedicating himself to the cause. He's invested, yeah, overly invested, yeah, but it all amounts to mommy issues on a cosmic level; it's confusing as heck, but he contains the soul of his own mother, and even now he wonders how she would have treated him if they were separate entities. Even now he wonders if he could have treated the other Angels as though they came from him, too. Unfortunately, the Angels weren't destined to be kindred spirits.

So Kaworu is left to watch little awe-inspiring human beings. It helps that he loves their species very much. Growing and learning and changing... humans are capable of amazing things.

All of this to say: yeah, he's sold on the idea of finding this boy the most fantastic towel any linen store has to offer.]

I could send you a message once I've completed the endeavor, [he suggests, and he's wiggling his toes again.] And we can meet somewhere nearby.

[ And Dean is clueless to the fact that he's just handed this kid a seemingly impossible mission - or at least something that's harder than it probably should be. Because as far as Dean's concerned, a towel's a towel's a towel, there's nothing there that really needs to be overly special. Little Sammy endured more shitty motel towels than any human should ever have to experience; something luxurious is still practically comedic to Dean.

But that doesn't mean he's going to stop this kid either. He's more than welcome to try his damndest, not that Dean has any idea why, but he offers a singular nod of agreement, switching Sam from one hip to another, adding a few bounces along the way. ]

Sounds like a plan. No rush, got it? Sammy can hold off on bath time for a little while longer.

hail the orphan king(s)

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