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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 17:28:10 GMT -5
Satoru mimicked with a Tap-tap-ta-tap of his own. "Alright, let's try something a little harder." He said with a grin, tapping out a longer and faster beat for Gabe to try and mimic, though if he listened he'd notice it was both of their strings of taps put together. He had said they'd make a song together, after all.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 17:39:05 GMT -5
Gabe listened and watched Toru's hands as he tapped away. A wide grin spread on the little blond's face when he realized what he did. "That's what we just did Toru! I can do that!" He said confidently before giving it a try himself. It wasn't as fast as how Toru had done it, and he fumbled a little at the end, but sure enough he ended up tapping out the same beat.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 21:09:02 GMT -5
There was a laugh from the Tora at Gabe's exclamation. "That's right," he replied, "Good job." The little boy had done fairly well at mimicking the beat. "Let's keep going so you've got something else to show Daddy when he gets back." And dear lord, when had he started referring to Keith like that? It was all Gabe's fault.
---
This, like most things Satoru found himself reflecting upon these days, was all Gabe's fault. If he hadn't had such a high pain tolerance he might have had his eyes watering from the sting of the tug on his hair. He knew he should have gotten a haircut, but no, he put it off too long and Gabe and Keith had noticed.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 21:24:42 GMT -5
Keith was trying not to laugh, but what he was seeing was both adorable and hilarious that it was really hard to hold back. He was grinning about as wide as he could and snickering occasionally as he watched his son play with Satoru's hair. Thank god Gabe didn't want to mess with his, his curly mess of hair was already tangled enough on a daily basis.
Gabe was having fun playing with Toru's hair. It was soft and nice and REALLY pretty when it got long. "Daddy, Toru's hair's lots more pretty than yours." He said as he kept his eyes on his step-daddy's head.
The inked man laughed at that. "Oh yeah, it's very pretty." He replied while looking at the gunslinger. "Maybe he should grow it out longer and you could braid it for him? Aunt Julie might have a ribbon or hair tie to use." He was just saying it to mess with Satoru really, and it seemed to make Gabe happy too, so it was a win-win.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 22:05:11 GMT -5
"Cram it, Keith." Satoru said, narrowing his eyes in Keith's direction. He'd put up with this for as long as Gabe wanted today, but tomorrow he was getting the damn mane cut off. It was far too shaggy right now, and he had to blow a stray strand of bangs out of his eyes. Gabe had told him to hold still earlier, after all. So here he was, holding still.
Still, he couldn't just leave Gabe pondering about ribbons. He could only bend so far over backwards for the kid before his proverbial spin snapped. "And I'm pretty sure Aunt Julie USES all of hers," he dropped the very blatant 'no' hint.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 22:16:54 GMT -5
Keith laughed louder at that while Gabe just continued to mess with Toru's hair. He gathered up as much as he could in his little hand and let it drop before looking up at his father. "Don't we gots something to pull it back though?" If Aunt Julie didn't have something, then maybe they did? He frowned and looked at his dad for a moment or two.
The brunette just grinned and slipped into the other room for a second before coming back with a rubber band. "Try this bud, Toru'll let you, won't ya?" He asked as he passed it over to Gabe. He just kept grinning away as he glanced down at Satoru. This was fun, this was really really fun. He'd had to get pictures if he could sneak them.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 23:19:16 GMT -5
"Traitor," Satoru hissed under his breath as Keith came back with the rubber band. Still, he didn't move. It would take a legitimate threat to get him to move right now, and even Echo pawing at the door to be let into the room wouldn't be enough. Besides, Keith could let her in.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Aug 26, 2014 23:30:13 GMT -5
Keith chuckled quietly to himself before going to the door to let Echo in. "Hey there girl." He bent down and scratched behind her ear. "You wanna see Princess Toru too?" He had a feeling he was gonna pay later on for all of this, so he was just going to enjoy it while it lasted.
In the mean time, Gabe was focusing on getting all of Toru's hair together. He managed to get a good bit together for a ponytail, but certain strands just weren't long enough to squeeze in. "There!" He announced when he finished. "Turn around Toru, I wanna see ya!" The little boy was completely oblivious to his father's muffled laughter over by the dog.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 5, 2015 17:20:47 GMT -5
Satoru glared at Keith while Gabe was pulling back the Tora's hair. The rubber band yanked uncomfortably at some of the strands, and he felt a few fall back into his face as Gabe finished. This was going to end as soon as tomorrow rolled around, he thought to himself as he turned to face Gabe. Echo yapped and whined and nosed at the back of his neck as he did, tail wagging gently.
"So?" He asked Gabe, attempting to mask his humiliation.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Jun 5, 2015 17:56:43 GMT -5
Gabe looked at Toru for a moment, glancing between his face and hair. "It'd look better if ALL your hair went in the pony tail." He said with a frown. "Can't 'cha let it grow out a little more?"
Around that time Keith figured it was time to come back to Satoru's side, he'd already put up with enough. "I don't think Toru's a long hair sorta guy, bud." Besides, shouldn't at least ONE of them look presentable on a daily basis? His own hair was halfway decent on good days, and while Gabe's own hair was normally brushed well enough, the kid's bangs still fell over his eyes constantly and it was a fight just to get his hair trimmed most of the time.
The blond boy seemed to take that into consideration and shrugged. "I guess..." Oh well, he got to play with it for a little while.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 5, 2015 23:36:54 GMT -5
"It'd take way too long to grow out anyway, wouldn't be any fun." And he'd keep getting it in his face and eyes. Before too long he'd revert to looking like he did when he was sixteen, and no one wanted to see that. Ever. Echo flopped onto Satoru's legs with a happy bark and wag of her tail, and Satoru took that as the dog agreeing with him.
---
Keith's hours at the shop were less negotiable than Satoru's. People had appointments and there weren't a lot of other tattoo artists at the shop (one, maybe, now that Frankie was trained) so Keith had a lot to do. It was fine, Satoru figured, it just meant he got to be the one picking Gabe up from school when the kid's dad was otherwise occupied. There was a small group of parents milling about waiting for the kindergartener's to get out, talking amongst themselves and such. Satoru stood decidedly to the side of them and refused to move closer. The last thing he needed in his life was an invitation to the PTA, he might just shoot himself to get out of that.
Luckily, the kids would be out soon. And sure enough they were, parents trickling away with their child (and in one case, children. Twins. He'd hate to be the teacher with them.) in tow. Eventually there were just a couple left, then it was just him. The school hadn't called about there being any issues, but the gunslinger couldn't help the lurch in his gut. Where was Gabe?
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Jun 6, 2015 10:16:35 GMT -5
Gabe had stayed away his classmates towards the end of school that day. The teasing had stopped by then but he didn't want to draw attention to himself or they might start up again. That said, he waited until the other kids had left with their parents to go outside. He wasn't sure if his dad or Toru would be picking him up today, but either way Gabe missed them and he wanted a hug.
The little blond stepped outside and looked around, running to his stepdad the moment he saw him. Once he got close Gabe hugged Satoru's legs as his eyes started to tear up. He just wanted to go home and maybe not go to school ever again.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 6, 2015 20:45:24 GMT -5
The relief Satoru felt when he saw Gabe was promptly eaten by worry as the five year old hugged his legs. This wasn't a typical hug, Gabe hadn't looked happy in the slightest. Satoru hugged him back, worry turning in his gut. "Gabe? What happened? What's wrong?" There was definitely something up, and he needed to know what it was so he could fix it. He needed to fix this, Gabe and Keith were the best part of his life and he was aiming to keep it that way, and he couldn't do that if Gabe didn't tell him.
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Post by Gabe Alabaster on Jun 6, 2015 21:16:24 GMT -5
Gabe moved his arms from hugging Toru's legs to his neck as he was hugged back with the hopes that his stepdaddy would pick him up. Some of his tears started to fall down his cheeks as he tried to explain. "M-my teacher t-told us that we were gonna m-m-make stuff for our moms for M-mother's Day but I said I don't know my mom and-and the other kids m-made fun of me..." They had laughed and said mean things, and Gabe didn't know what to do 'cause he promised Daddy and Toru that he wouldn't get into fights and they wouldn't listen when he told them to stop.
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Post by Satoru Alabaster on Jun 6, 2015 21:46:55 GMT -5
Satoru obliged and picked up the child, grateful that Gabe wasn't very big yet. He held him close as the little boy cried and explained, and was quiet for a moment. He couldn't just tell him to punch the kids since they were trying not to turn Gabe into another Anya after all, and saying something so simple as 'its alright' didn't really seem like it was enough. But, well, he did know at least one thing that might cheer the kid up. "Do you want to know a secret?" He asked quietly, aware of how close he was to Gabe's ear. Besides, whispering made it feel more like a secret.
He pulled back just a bit so he could look at Gabe properly. "I don't know my mom either." He smiled a bit. It wasn't that he liked that thought, he'd gotten called a whoreson more times than he could count and it wasn't like he could prove anyone wrong, but it was enough that he could use it to comfort Gabe now.
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