Disclaimer: I do not own inFAMOUS: Second Son
Pairing: none
Words: 1,966
Title: Happy Mother's Day
Rating: G
Summary: Delsin does something special for his mom every Mother's Day, even years after he was a kid.
Happy Mother's Day
May 9, 1999.
The padding of little feet resounded against hardwood flooring as a six-year old came running through the living room. The potted bamboo plant near the living room opening wobbled as the ball of energy sped by. "Sk'wuy! Sk'wuy!" the boy, wearing a bright white short-sleeved hoodie and jean shorts, yelled. (1) He nearly banged his knee against the coffee table which he managed to twist away from just in time, avoiding adding a scrape that would match the one on his other knee. He stopped, slipping just a bit on the patterned rug, in front of the woman sitting on a metal turn-stool in front of an easel.
The woman with long dark hair, tied away from her round though long face, turned to the little boy as she set down the few paintbrushes she had in her hand and her pallet on the small table next to her. "Delsin, inside voices," she chided gently.
"Sorry, Sk'wuy, but I got somethin' for you!" he grinned, bouncing in place with excitement. Covered with little bird band-aids, his fingers drummed over what he was holding in his hands behind his back. He worked on it for forever for the past few days, and he really hoped his mother liked it. His mother was the best person in the whole wide world! Well, other than his father and Reggie.
"Oh?" she smiled as she wiped her hands on a color-smeared rag. Twisting on the stool to face him, she leaned over with her elbows on her knees and head resting on the back of her hands. "What does my little Kaw'qs have for me today?" (2)
Delsin thrust out his arms to show her what he had behind his back. "Happy Mother's Day, Sk'wuy!" He felt a nice feeling in his tummy, like a bunch of warm bees were buzzing around, when his mother's face lit up and she lifted her hands to her cheeks.
"Oh, Delsin, I love it so much!" She stood up from her stool and placed the present on the coffee table. Her Mother's Day present was a crayon drawing on a sheet of computer paper. The drawing was quite skilled for a child his age, very unlike the general stick figure doodles that other six-year olds were drawing. He drew his mother's round face framed by her straight dark black hair. The woman's eyes were drawn in the exact shade of green as they were in real life; Delsin had carefully made sure he has chosen the right color. The bright smile on her face matched the brightly colored blue ring of flowers that were drawn around her. Blue was her favorite color. Under the round ring of flowers, he had drawn a "HaPPY MOther'S DaY!" in big letters encompassed in a green rectangle. Delsin made sure to sign his name at the bottom of the picture so that the whole world would know that he made this picture for his Sk'wuy. To bring the picture all together, it was sealed in a polished wooden frame that he asked his Bad to help him with. (3)
She engulfed Delsin in a large embrace, straightening to her full height of six feet and twirling him around the living room. "I love you, my little Kaw'qs." She pressed kisses all over his face as he giggled and squirmed. "Don't ever forget that."
"I love you, too, Sk'wuy! Forever!"
May 14, 2017 (4)
It was twelve in the morning as Delsin slinked through the kitchen on his way towards the back door of their house. His socked feet barely made any noise as he neared the door. He made sure not to put his shoes on yet in order to create less noise. He did not want Reggie to wake up and see him. His brother had fallen asleep on the couch, police reports and other paperwork strewn all over the coffee table. Delsin gave a fond eye roll, knowing his brother all too well; Reggie always tried to do everything in one day, even if he had several days ahead of him to finish whatever he was working on. Subsequently, Reggie always tired himself out, which always caused him to fall asleep before he could finish whatever he had wanted to finish.
Five steps to go. Three steps. One step…
"…Delsin…?" a groggy voice called from the couch.
The young man swore under his breath and then turned on his heel to face his brother. "Heyyyy, Reg! Thought you were still doing paperwork?" He shifted the large satchel that he had on his shoulder more behind his back, away from direct sight.
"Ugh, yeah," Reggie rubbed his eyes as he tried to wake up more, "Was. Fell 'sleep I guess. Where ya' going?"
Delsin said the first thing that came to mind, "I'm running to grab some Doritos and other snacks that we ran out of. I'm working on a personal art piece that I wanna finish tonight, and I need some fuel." There were a few seconds of silence while Reggie's sleep heavy brain processed what Delsin said. The younger brother waited with held breath until the other man replied by telling him to be safe and be back soon. He did not fully relax until Reggie slumped right back on the couch again, snoring like there was no tomorrow.
Finally, Delsin gave another eye roll as he slowly opened the door and slipped outside. He waited until he heard the soft click of the lock sticking in place before running away from the house as fast as he could. Gotta make sure I use all my time to my advantage. He had a lot of work to do in only a few short hours. Daylight would be approaching at six o'clock. He did not stop running until he reached about five minutes outside the reservation, where he stashed the bike with which he would make his…not so legal runs with. If he kept it near his house, Reggie would most likely confiscate it. Delsin only took a short moment to catch his breath and make sure the bag with all his supplies were secure before pedaling off towards the city.
His destination was Denny Park. Once he arrived, he set his bike to the side and pulled out everything he needed from his satchel: collapsible ladder, spray paints, brushes, large bottles of eco-friendly acrylic, and tarps. Taking in the blank gray wall that was on the side of the two-story building, Delsin sighed, thinking: Guess I better get to it…
. . .
Delsin trudged out of his room, eyes heavy and hair completely mussed. His jaw creaked open with a powerful yawn as he sat down at the round kitchen table, only half-aware of the news that was playing on their tiny counter-top T.V. Just as he was about to nod off right at the table, he was startled awake by the loud jump in volume as Reggie cranked up the news broadcast. Delsin sighed as he placed over a hand on his chest, theatrically glaring at his brother. "Jesus, Reggie, are you trying to kill your little brother by giving him a heart attack first thing in the morning?"
Leaning near the stove with coffee one hand and remote in the other, Reggie offered him an unamused eyebrow. "The only thing that's going to kill you off is your smart aleck-ness." He turned gaze from Delsin to the TV. "Check out the news report."
There was a brunette man broadcasting the report this morning. "My name is Edward Grant, and today I am standing here in front of Denny Park. Anyone local to Seattle knows how prominent the art community here is, legal or otherwise." Grant gestured behind him, "Directly behind me is the subject of this report today. This mural, stretching across the entire face of this wall of this two story building, has seemingly appeared out of nowhere." The face of the wall was painted a nice amber-orange as the background. The subject was of a dark skinned woman, appearing to be of Akomish descent. The amber-orange of the background greatly complemented the rich ochre and tawny hues of her skin, making her appear to almost glow. This woman was painted very realistically, features quite discernible. She had a round but long face, not ugly in the slightest but rather quite beautiful. A river of ink-black hair flowed from her head and spilled well past her broad shoulders. The beige of her billowy blouse highly contrasted with the raven. However, her forest green eyes stared down at the gorgeous, sleek blue-black raven that she was cradling in her hands with maternal fondness; her lips, painted a pleasant coral color, exuded great happiness at the raven. The woman was surrounded in an oval of white, which was laced with incredibly stylized cyan- and azure-blue lilies. Spanning across the bottom was a banner that read: 'Happy Mother's Day'.
"Video footage captured during the night shows someone showing up at the scene around twelve-thirty this morning; however, gender and identity were not discernible." Grant walked closer, stopping right at the face of the wall. He continued, "As you can see here, right at the bottom of this mural is the artist's signature. Even though we do not know the creator's real name or identity, their pseudo-name is 'The Vandal King.' Even though this mural is a beautiful sight to see, at least in this reporter's opinion, especially on Mother's Day, there has been controversy over the fact that this was done without the building owner's permission. The majority of others are welcoming this contribution to the area. We will have more facts to add to this story at seven pm tonight on…"
Silence hung over the kitchen like a thick blanket. Delsin started fidgeting a little at the atmosphere, knowing how Reggie would probably react. "Okay, look. I know what you're gonna say—"
"Delsin, stop talking," Reggie interrupted bluntly.
Oh, jeeze, Delsin mentally prepared for the forever-long lecture he was about to get.
Starting with a sigh, Reggie said, "They said the artist's name is The Vandal King. I don't see your name anywhere on that mural; therefore I have no proof to arrest you." Delsin wasn't sure where Reggie was going because he knew that Reggie knew that Delsin often signed his murals under 'The Vandal King'. (5) "Plus," he gave Delsin a look, "I know for a fact that you didn't sneak out the house last night. All you did was get junk food and work on your project, right?"
"Yep, totally." Delsin nodded. "Got Doritos and came right back. Worked on my personal project all night long."
"Good." Reggie took another sip of his coffee as he walked toward the kitchen table. Delsin got tense as his brother neared, fully expecting getting pulled by his ear or something. What he didn't expect was for his brother to wrap his arms around him and draw him into a hug. "Sk'wuy would be very proud of you Delsin." The artist froze when he heard those words, completely thrown. Reggie pulled away from him, though still resting his hands on Delsin shoulders. Delsin was surprised to see his older brother's eyes a little damp. "Dammit, I'm so proud of you—I always have been. I love you, little bro". He turned to face the TV screen which was still showing the mural. "And I know Mom still does too."
Clearing his throat and blinking several times in order to get his emotions in check, he allowed a smile to spread across his face. Drawing comfort from Reggie's hand on his still on his shoulder, he looked at the TV screen as well.
"Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I love you so much."
Published: 5/13/15
(1) sk'wuy means "mother" in Lushootseed, which is the language that I base the Akomish language off of. I headcanon that Delsin used more Akomish in his everyday language (aka Lushootseed) when he was younger than he does when he gets older. He still speaks it, just not as often. Source: ( www. native-languages lushootseed _ words . htm)
(2) kaw'qs means "raven" in Lushootseed. Source: ( www .native-languages morewords / lushootseed _ animals . htm)
(3) This means "father" in Lushootseed, not the English "bad" that means "not good". Source: ( www. native-languages lushootseed _ words . htm)
(4) Even though I've later learned that the game takes place in the fall, I've always headcanoned that Second Son takes place during the summer. Either way, since this fic takes place in May, it is a month (to a few months) before the game even took place.
(5) Delsin signing his murals with "The Vandal King" refers to a headcanon I have.
A/N: I really wanted to finish this by Mother's Day, but work and other things got in the way. However, I have been steadily working on this every day since Sunday. I really wanted to write this fic because I wanted to explore Delsin and his mother's relationship. Oh, and I headcanon that Delsin's mother was an artist, so as Delsin was growing up, he wanted to be just like his mother. Any headcanons that I have can be found on my inFAMOUS tumblr page: ms-musicl0vertheconduit