Location: Royal Courtyard, Midmorning Chaos (feat. Two Preggos, One Gremlin, and a Spiritually-Broken King)
Gabriel sat slumped on a stone bench like a man who had personally waged war against two jungle-themed nukes and barely crawled out alive. His coat was off, shirt open, hair tousled, and his soul looked like it had been wrung out and hung on a clothesline.
Aurelón sat in his lap, poking Gabriel's cheek with all the gentle subtlety of a tiny god demanding tribute.
"Goo."
He should feel happy—his child was barely a couple months old and already able to do something like this... yet.
Poke.
Have you ever gotten your cheeks pinched by a baby before? If yes, you know that shit hurts.
"Gweh."
Ah yes, his hellspawn. Adorable gremlin. Loved squeezing his cheeks.
Poke.
"...You gonna stop that or—"
Poke.
Gabriel smiled a bit. He couldn't get mad at his kid. The boy had his mother's hair and his skin—Gabriel's specific shade of dark. Both he and Harribel were chocolate; her tone was a bit lighter than his.
Not by much, but lighter nonetheless. Oh well, he wondered if she was Middle Eastern in origin. His Beast had been quiet lately, and with Cosmic Satan asleep, he already knew some BS was finna happen. Next thing he knows, he's getting jumped by every faction.
While yes, the Hollows currently had the firepower to fight both the Shinigami and the Quincy—even if both races were in their prime, speaking like full-Schrift Quincy and the Seireitei of a thousand years ago—Hueco Mundo would win.
Like, mid-difficulty. And only because of some truly haxed abilities. If not for them, then it's easy.
Shit changed though. If every single faction jumped them, that shit would be hard. The Hollows hadn't gained that much strength.
His Malahkim faction hadn't been fully established yet, and his mass-producing of powerful warriors—who were, at bare minimum, 3rd Seat level—would not be able to win against such a huge mindfuck.
Gabriel's instinct screamed at him. His son, realizing he didn't have his dad's full attention, felt like he was being insulted.
He was the heir to the throne. Give him his damn affection.
The child's eyes turned red. Tapping into the latent well of demonic energy within him, the child opened his mouth as a dense amount of Reishi formed.
"Oh shit," Gabriel said, ducking out of the way just in time as—
PEW—BOOM!
The beam zipped past his ear, scorched the top off a palm tree, and exploded somewhere in the back garden where a poor servant screamed something about "Not again!"
Smoke trickled out of Aurelón's mouth as he giggled and clapped like he'd just discovered comedy.
"Ahaha! FWOOSH!"
"...You're a menace," Gabriel muttered, staring at the smoldering crater.
Behind them, Sun-Sun floated in with a teasing grin sharper than her tongue. She passed by the wreckage like it didn't exist, holding a scroll in one hand and a steaming cup of tea in the other.
"Hmm~ destruction before noon? Just like his father," she cooed. "But I must say... Gabriel..."
She looked him up and down.
"You look positively ruined." A sip. "And not in a bad way. Well—actually, no, exactly in a good way."
Gabriel squinted. "You're evil."
"Thank you."
She leaned close to whisper in his ear, "And your stamina training clearly worked. Those two couldn't even walk straight past the third round~"
Gabriel choked on air. "Sun-Sun!"
"I said what I said."
Then—Harribel stepped in. Regal. Graceful. And holding two bottles.
One was warm milk.
The other?
A spiritual sedative, because this child's aura was starting to warp the sand into glass. And also, his reiatsu was crushing the servants—who, mind you, weren't weaklings. Yet since the child didn't know how to control his power, he could accidentally kill them just by flexing his reiatsu alone.
He was on his fifth nanny... yes, the child already had a body count at that young age. And it wasn't that he was trying to kill those people, he was just... demonic.
Gabriel's eyes darkened a bit. With a light movement, he absorbed back the piece of the Beast's subconscious that had slipped into the child.
{My kids are off-limits.}
[##$$%% &^%# #%&*(}
He didn't seem too happy.
Back to the real world.
Harribel noticed the problem.
She blinked. "Why is the tree on fire?"
"Ask the giggling warhead," Gabriel replied, passing Aurelón into her arms like he was disarming a bomb.
But just as she cradled him lovingly and offered the milk—
Aurelón twisted away, his little face scrunching in betrayal. His red eyes locked back on Gabriel.
A soft whine.
Then—a sniffle.
Then—
WAIL.
"M-MEHHHH!!!"
Translation: "HOW DARE YOU HOLD SOMEONE ELSE THAT ISN'T ME FOR MORE THAN 5 SECONDS!?"
Harribel blinked.
Sun-Sun grinned.
Gabriel, hand on his face: "This child's got a jealousy complex already—"
He reached back over, and Aurelón instantly stopped, snuggling into his chest like nothing happened.
Sun-Sun cackled. "Possessive little prince. He really is your spawn."
Gabriel glared. "I see no issue."
"You wouldn't."
Harribel sighed, but there was a fondness in her eyes.
"So... you're holding him tonight."
"Figured."
"And you're handling all the diaper shifts."
"...Fair."
"And he sleeps in your bed."
"Already does."
Aurelón squealed with victory, claiming full ownership of the Father Throne.
A/N I started working and I have summer school so upload will be less.