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After Shattered Peak, Silverview buys a house for Scales and Hathaway. He doesn’t listen when they tell him repeatedly and fervently to absolutely not do that, just gets them a house and takes a key for himself in case he’s ever back in town. Scales is pretty sure Buttwatcher has a key, too, although he’s not sure how he got it. Gods know he’s let himself in their home enough times that he can either pick the locks or has a key, and Scales definitely knows which one he’d prefer to be true.
But this is all diverging super far from the point, which is: Scales is a homeowner. Scales Fangbattle, traveling bard and adventurer, has a lovely house, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a high-class kitchen, a kickass wife, and a beautiful, beautiful daughter.
He got pretty lucky. Lots of adventurers don’t get half of that.
For the first couple months of parenthood there’s an endless parade of Redcheeks in and out of the house, all of Hath’s cousins and aunts and uncles. They all oohed and aahed over hardwood furniture with a frankly disturbing number of silver adornments - a Silverview thing, Scales supposes - and cooed over Taylor. Which they should. They definitely should. Even Silverview stopped by a few times, claiming he just happened to be in town, although he always had a week’s worth of meals from one of his personal chefs.
“Your family’s not going to visit,” Hath says when Taylor is about three months old. It’s not quite a question, the way she says it. She knows what he’ll say.
“Nah,” Scales says. He doesn’t shrug - he can’t act like this doesn’t matter to him when Hathaway definitely knows it does, kind of. “You know them, they don’t like my job, or my taste in women, or me.”
Hathaway’s mouth thins into a line. “Still. They should.”
Scales sighs and lets Hathaway pull him into a hug. “I’m not close to my family the way you are,” he says. He wishes he were. He misses his parents, but there’s only so willing he is to write letters and get shut down time and time again. “I’ve got Silverview and Buttwatcher.”
Hathaway snorts and nestles her head against his chest. “The two best friends anyone could have?”
“We’re the Hogsbottom Three,” Scales reminds her. “We’re good together. We’re good.”
They are good. Not great, could be better, but good. Scales knows what family he would invite if he had the chance, but it’s hard to write a letter to a sister who has a top-secret job and no mailing address. She can probably figure out where he is. Eventually.
“Eventually” turns out to be when Taylor is five months old. Her skin isn’t scaly like it was when she was born but it’s still pearlescent blue, which is what Scales cares the most about. She’s getting big now, but she still rests easily in his arms, staring up at him wide-eyed as he sings her to sleep.
“We can go up, up, up,” he sings, and then there’s a knock on the door. He pulls Taylor closer to his chest. “Just a second,” he calls, and starts the process of getting to his feet.
Taylor whines at him, shifting in his arms, and Scales rolls his eyes. “Need more music, huh?” he says fondly, and starts rocking her as he makes his way over. “But I’ll fly a little higher, go up in the clouds where the view’s a little nicer.”
Scales unlocks the door and pulls it open. “Hey, what can-”
“Awwww!” Carey gasps, clapping both hands over her mouth. “Aw, Scales! Scales! ”
“Carey?” Scales gapes and looks between his sister and the orc woman standing with her, one hand resting on Carey’s shoulder and the other holding what looks like a casserole dish. The fiancee. “And… it’s not Kim, is it? Starts with a K-”
“Killian,” she says, smiling broadly. “I’m amazed you remembered that much.”
“You’re marrying my sister, I remember things like that. Carey, you didn’t tell me you were visiting!”
“You didn’t tell me you have a kid, ” Carey practically shouts.
Taylor starts wriggling in his arms, and Carey gasps. “Oh, no no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“It's fine, don't worry. And I have a wife, too, but she’s not home right now.” Scales steps away from the doorway. “Also a house.”
“Where did you get a house?”
“Silverview.”
“Silverview?” Killian repeats. “The ones who got their money-”
“From viewing silver, yeah.”
“I was going to say from hugely unethical business practices.”
“Nah, that doesn’t sound like Tanzer.” Scales bounces Taylor in his arms a couple time. “I’ve gotta put Tay down for her nap, but since you’re here, did you wanna hold her first?”
Carey looks uncertainly at her. “I don’t know, Scales, she’s- she’s so small.”
“Yeah, but she used to be smaller.” Scales shifts around so he’s holding Taylor out. “Come on, Carey, say hi to your niece.”
“My niece.” Carey blinks and at last reaches out. “What about the claws?”
“She doesn’t seem to notice when I poke her.”
“Is she half-human?” Killian asks, kneeling down. “Here, Car, just take her-”
“I’ve got her.” Carey pulls Taylor into her arms and stares down. Taylor reaches up a hand and swipes at Carey’s snout, and Carey laughs. “What’s her name?”
“Taylor,” Scales answers. He can’t look away from them. “My wife’s a halfling.”
Carey snorts. “Mom and Dad were super happy about that, huh?”
“Oh, you know it. They haven’t even come to visit us yet.”
He means it as a joke, as another our parents suck thing, but Carey looks stricken. “Do they know you have a daughter?”
“I mean-” Scales blinks. “I sent them the birth announcement like five months ago, and they never wrote back. But it’s fine, Hath has a huge family and they’re pretty well off from this whole cider empire, so we don’t need Mom and Dad.”
“Still.” Carey looks back down at Taylor and her face softens. “Taylor, huh? I’m your cool aunt Carey.”
“You’re her only aunt, Hathaway’s an only child.”
“Your only aunt Carey.” Carefully, gingerly, Carey moves one hand to stroke Taylor’s face. She giggles, and Carey’s breath visibly catches. “I’m gonna have to visit a lot more often.”
“That’d be good,” Scales blurts out. He hasn’t seen Carey in over a year, doesn’t know what she’s been up to. He misses his sister.
“Yeah, I think it would.” Carey smiles down at Taylor one last time before holding her out to Scales. “Me and her almost-equally-cool aunt Killian.”
“I can be second favorite,” Killian murmurs. She’s smiling, more at Carey than Taylor. “What’s her full name?”
Scales takes his daughter - hah, that’s never going to get old, he has a daughter - and bounces her lightly in his arms. “Taylor Swift Redcheek Fangbattle.”
“Redcheek?” Killian repeats.
“Taylor Swift?” Carey demands. “Scales!”
“It was going to be either Taylor Swift or Elton John,” Scales answers. “Do you guys know the Redcheeks?”
Carey and Killian exchange a look that’s too deliberate to be related to anything other than their weird static-inducing job. “We know one,” Carey says slowly. “We can- talk to her about visiting, maybe? She hasn’t been home to the family in a while.”
“Ooooookay.” Scales shrugs. Taylor giggles, and he lifts her to press an absent kiss to her forehead. “Sounds cool, just let me and Hath know.”
“Ooh, do we have company?” Hathaway’s voice says from the door. Scales can hear her fumbling with her keys. Taylor gurgles happily, and Killian lets out a soft aw at it.
“We do have company, honey,” Scales calls back. “It’s for me, for once. Can you put Tay down for her nap?”
“Of course, of course, I-” Hathaway pushes the door open, holding a bag of groceries, and her mouth forms a perfect O as she sees Killian and Carey.
Scales beams. He moves over and presses a kiss to his wife’s hair. “Hathaway, I’d like to introduce you to Carey, my sister, and her fiancee Killian. Fiancee?”
“Fiancee,” Killian confirms.
Hathaway looks between Killian and Carey and then casts a dry look at Scales. “Gosh, I wonder which one you’re related to.”
Carey laughs. “Oh, I like her.”
“Yeah, me too.” Scales grins as Hathaway leans up to kiss his cheek. “Carey, Killian, this is Hathaway. My wife.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Hathaway says. “Scales, let me-”
“Oh, yeah, here.” Scales passes Taylor off carefully, and Hathaway cradles her. “How was town?”
“It’s the same as town ever is. Put these away?”
Scales plucks the bag of groceries from her hand. “Of course, honey.”
“And you-” Hathaway looks back at Killian and Carey. “You’re welcome to stay for coffee, or even dinner, of course.”
“Oh, that’s-” Killian lifts the casserole dish with one hand. “One of our coworkers made this for us, he said it should be pretty good. So I mean- if you’ll have us, we brought the food.”
“Of course we’ll have you,” Hathaway says firmly, and Scales has never loved his totally awesome wife more than he does in this moment. “You’re family.”
Carey smiles. It’s a little watery, but she nods. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for coming,” Hathaway says, and goes off to put Taylor to bed.
Scales smiles. “Here, I can take you to the kitchen for your food. Do you guys want a house tour?”
“Yeah, of course, let me just-” Carey leaps across the room in one jump and throws her arms around Scales’s neck.
“Whoa, okay!” Scales laughs and hugs her, squeezing tight. “What’s the occasion?”
“I’m really, really proud of you,” Carey says, muffled by his shoulder. “My little brother all settled down, with a wife and a kid. That’s awesome.”
Scales swallows around the sudden lump in his throat. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You’re gonna be the best dad, Jay.”
“Carey-” Scales blinks, hard, to keep the tears from stinging at his eyes. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I love you too.” Carey sighs and then pulls back to give him a bright, real smile. “You were gonna show us around?”
Scales nods and tries to discreetly brush at the tears at the corners of his eyes, smiling hard. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”