[O] You're Gonna Miss Me

Tik hummed softly to himself as he rummaged through the kitchen cupboards idly.

He was bored and he was looking for something to keep him occupied. The kitchen was probably not the best place to find something to sate his boredom but it would at least waste some time before he found something else to use for his boredom.

The man sighed softly as he set a cup down on the counter with a little more force than was necessary.

He paused as the sound echoed through the empty kitchen. He lifted the cup and set it back down against the counter. The noise echoed around the room again.

The man drew to his feet as he bought the cup down again.

He looked around cautiously for a few moments.

The place was clear.

He licked his lips as he clapped his hands together before bringing the cup down on the counter.

"I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
Two bottle whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
Oh, I'm leaving tomorrow. What do you say?

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere,
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one with the prettiest view

It's got mountains, it's got rivers
It's got woods that give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

You're gonna miss me by my walk
You'll miss me by my talk
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone"

Aeker gave a soft yawn as he bounced Darragh on his hip.

Thankfully the boy had at least waited until nightfall to wake him up, though he was still tired, but Darragh was hungry and Aodh wasn't about to crawl out of bed to make his breakfast.

"What would you like to eat sweetheart?"

He asked as he brushed the boy's messy hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear as they padded into the kitchen.

Aeker looked a little disheveled, his long hair was tied back but he was still half asleep and in his pajamas, a loose t-shirt encasing his chest and a pair of flannel pants hanging from his hips.

Darragh was playing with Aeker's hair idly when he heard the sound of music.

His head perked up and he leaned over Aeker's arm to try and listen.

"Pretty singing," he murmured in awe, completely blanking Aeker's question.

He wriggled out of his mothers grasp and fell to the floor. He dusted himself off and padded up to the still singing Elf. He tugged at the man's jeans when he'd finished singing and Tik jumped in fright, turning wide eyes down to the boy.

"You sing pretty," the boy complimented. "I'm Darragh, and this is my mommy." The boy babbled, his words spilling out faster and faster the more he spoke. "Mommy likes your singing, too. You're good at singing. What song was it? Can you teach it me?"

Tik just stood still and tense, staring down at the boy speaking words he couldn't understand.

Aeker didn't try to keep hold of the boy as he struggled free, it was easier just to let the boy wander around.

The Vampire couldn't help but smile endearingly as the man jumped in fright, poor thing was being bombarded by Darragh's question.

"Sweetheart, you shouldn't run up to people like that, you might have frightened him."

Aeker muttered, shaking his head.

"I'm so sorry, Darragh is just excited to hear your singing."

He said, his pace much slower than the boys, Aeker usually spoke it quite a soft, leveled tone.

Darragh pouted when Aeker scolded him gently.

"I didn't scare him. I'm not scary." His gaze turned back up to Tik. "I'm not scary," he repeated with wide eyes.

Tik chewed his heavily pierced lip, eyes flickering up to Aeker.

He could understand him better.

"Is... It's okay."

Aeker laughed softly and stroked Darragh's hair, petting the boy's head.

"I think you're scary when you're cranky."

The Vampire teased with a little grin as he looked down at the boy.

"Darragh wanted to know if you could teach him your song, he thought it was very pretty."

Hearing the man's timid words were enough to let him know that English was difficult for him, his accent was quite thick, no wonder he looked confused listening to Darragh.

"Sweetheart you need to speak more slowly so people can understand you."

The boy stuck his tongue out and crossed his arms over his chest as he pouted. He wasn't scary.

It took a minute for Tik to get his head around Aeker's request.

He raised his hand and gave an awkward little wave of it. "I, uh... No sing." He didn't sing for others. Never. Anyone hearing in on this was a huge mistake.

He'd feel awkward and uncomfortable teaching someone else to sing.

Darragh pouted again, looking up at Tik with wide eyes.

The man withered a little under the boy's bright eyes.

"Cup," the man murmured. He could show him how to do the cup part, he supposed. That didn't involve singing.

He felt sorry for the man, Darragh had gotten those puppy dog eyes from his father, they were hard to say no too.

"I'm Aeker by the way, Darragh's parent, it's nice to meet you."

He could at least try to make this seem a little more normal, it wasn't every day that you got cornered by a small child.

The man gave a small nod.

"Tik."

The man crouched down in front of Darragh, dragging the cup from the counter.

He clapped his hands together slowly before tapping them against the top of the cup, showing Darragh how to do the first bit of the cup part.

"Would you like something to eat Tik? I was just about to make Darragh and his father some breakfast."

The Vampire replied, watching the two of them fondly. It was nice to see someone being so kind to Darragh, though it was hard not to love the boy.

"What do you think Darragh, teddy pancakes for breakfast?"

Tik shook his head and offered the Vampire a little smile.

He wasn't hungry. Aeker didn't need to cook him food that he wasn't going to eat.

The man returned to showing Darragh the step by step of the cup song. When he'd run through it, he offered the cup to the boy.

Darragh tried, but messed up very quickly. It was harder than it looked.

Tik ruffled the boy's red hair before showing him the steps again.

Aeker went about cooking anyway, Darragh's stomach would catch up to him soon and the boy would be tugging at his shirt for food, plus when Aodh woke up he would need feeding as well.

Thankfully Aodh had gone into heat early in the month so they had left him with Moe for a while, as Aodh calmed down Zeke had flared up so he had been baby sitting the twins quite a lot.

Today was one of the rare few where the boy's were with Moe and he could spend some quality time with Darragh and Aodh.

Aeker went about making the pancake batter and cutting up the banana for the bear's face.

The two sat on the floor ran through the process over and over as Aeker cooked.

Tik smiled encouragingly as Darragh stuck his tongue out in concentration. The boy was cute.

Darragh managed to run through it without any mistakes. It was slow, shaky and not quite in the tune it was supposed to be in, but it didnt have any mess ups in it.

Tik smiled and clapped for the boy as he grinned proudly up at him.

Aeker gave a small clap as the boy finished it without messing up.

"Keep practicing Darragh and you can surprise Daddy with it when he wakes up."

Aodh always got a kick out of seeing Darragh's musical talent, it was something the two of them shared.

He had to admit that he was quite proud of how quickly the boy learned things.

"I can do it, mommy," he cheered.

Darragh went through it again, fumbling a little, but once again getting through it.

With a bit more practise, he'd be absolutely perfect at it.

"I'm so proud of you Sweetheart, now what do you say to Tik for teaching you?"

He asked as he looked over to the man, he had been quite a good teacher since Darragh picked it up fast and the man hadn't even said a single word.

"You'll have to show Aunty Lexy later, she would love to hear you play."

Darragh pushed himself to his feet and leaned over to hug the Egyptian man.

Tik was tense for a moment before laying a hand on Darragh's back.

"Thank you, Tik."

Darragh settled in Tik's lap, looking up at his mother. "Think Uncle Ta-hee will like it to, mommy?"

Aeker chuckled softly to himself as Darragh hugged the rather shy man.

The boy had so sense of boundaries, he treated everyone with kindness and affection if they would let him, Aeker was just glad that the man had taken the sudden contact well.

"I think he will like it very much."

It might be a while until he saw it though, after all he wasn't entirely sure how the Lycan was holding up at the moment.

"I'm going to show daddy and Auntie Lexis and Uncle Ta-hee and Maccon and Fluffy and grampy Alek and grampy Ly and uncle Chess and auntie Moe and uncle Zeke." The boy listed off name after name.

He was determined to show all these people that he could do it.

Tik smiled softly.

It was great seeing someone so happy about being taught something as small as banging a cup against the ground and clapping.

Aeker laughed softly as he continued with breakfast, Darragh was so full of life, he was glad that he was such a happy child.

As the pancakes bubbled in the pan he flipped them, smiling when they were the perfect colour.

"Darragh, come here."

He beckoned the boy closer for a moment, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"Why don't you go get Tik a present for teaching you, go wake daddy up and grab your drawing book, I think he would like it if you drew him a nice picture."

Darragh made his way up to Aeker when he was bid to.

He nodded and gave a grin, running off immediately.

Tik watched the boy go, his eyes following the boy. When he was out of sight, his gaze turned down to the cup on the floor.

He began going through the motions of the cup song idly.

"He will be back in a moment."

Aeker muttered as he looked over at Tik with a warm smile.

"Thank you for being so kind to him, he can be a little overwhelming sometimes."

A lot of people found Darragh a little too much when they first met him, he was just so energetic.

Thankfully they had a large group of friends who absolutely adored the boy.

Tik's gaze turned up to the man, his hands continued clapping and moving the cup as if it were second nature for him to do it.

He smiled in return to the warm smile the Vampire gave him.

Darragh was definitely a very full-on little boy.

It had daunted Tik a little. But the boy was friendly.

"You're stuck now though, when Darragh makes friends he likes to keep them close."

The boy was very loyal to those close to him, another trait he had gotten from his father.

"You're new here aren't you? My mates name is Aodh, if you ever need any help, you're welcome to come to us."

He added with a gentle smile before turning back to the pancakes and flipping another batch and putting them on the plate before he started decorating them with banana and chocolate chips, making little bear faces.

Tik smiled at that.

He'd like to have a friend, no matter how young that friend actually was. Apart from Challis, he hadn't really met anyone else. Meeting new people and making friends is always nice.

The man hummed softly with the tune.

A few minutes later, a grumpy Aodh carrying a cheerful Darragh appeared.

"I really hate you sometimes," the man murmured as he made his way to Aeker, dragging him away from his decorating by his hair. He leaned forwards and kissed him deeply, hand fisting tightly in his hair.