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***WARNINGS:*** Ageplay/Diapers, Dark!Ven, an accident, language
As I'm sure you can imagine, Ven has a lot of baggage from his time with Xehanort; he doesn't just have a warped understanding of independence and "discipline", he also has an immense amount of repressed rage built up from not being able to defend himself against Xehanort's abuse. Ven lets it out in several different ways throughout the story, and you will see one of them in this chapter.
Also, diapers will be introduced in this chapter.
On with the show!
Chapter VI: I'm Okay, You're Okay
"So, you're the Master." Ven's voice is dull and flat; the lilting, disjointed cadence of his tone a few moments ago is completely gone.
Eraqus nods. "That is correct. My name is Eraqus."
"Master…Eraqus." Ven repeats, rising from his chair.
"Ventus, I'm quite certain that Terra told you that you weren't to leave that chair until the timer went off." Eraqus reminds the youth gently.
Ventus smirks, all teeth and spite. "You mean this one?" He hefts the simple device—a small, decorative piece designed to look like a hatching chicken. Without further comment, he hurls it across the room, sending it through the door to the microwave with a crash, where it shatters into several pieces, completely beyond repair.
"Oops," Ventus says, in a voice that implies the exact opposite of the sorrow he's feigning.
"What is the meaning of this?" Eraqus demands sternly.
"What? You gonna punish me, Master? Teach me a lesson? Get on with it, then, I don't have all day."
Eraqus raises an eyebrow. " You almost sound as though you want me to punish you. I'd rather not, and seeing as how you want to be disciplined, to do so now would defeat the purpose of disciplining you in the first place. What's on your mind?"
Ven laughs, a harsh, broken noise. "Come on; don't you want to beat some sense into me?" he steps closer to Eraqus, sneering at him. He taps his cheek with his fingertips. "Right here, you know you want to. Teach me some respect, old man."
Eraqus simply sits passively, cross-legged on the floor, breathing even and slow.
"Not gonna take a swing? Fine!" Ven snaps, drawing his own arm back, fist clenched, "How about some incentive!" he lets fly with a blow of his own; Eraqus catches his fist with minimal effort, moving so quickly that Ven misses the motion entirely.
"Ventus," Eraqus begins calmly, taking Ven's hand in both of his. "I can't imagine the pain you must be feeling right now, and I want to help you. But I can't until you calm down…"
Ven thrashes wildly, attempting to wrest his arm from Eraqus' grip, to no avail. "Let go of me!"
Eraqus exerts a little more pressure, maneuvering the boy's arm so he has to sit on the floor with his back to him. He releases the boy from the arm-lock—he knows that the immobilization technique isn't exactly comfortable—and wraps him up in a confining embrace instead.
"Stop it! Let go!" Ven's voice is desperate and afraid, and he flails about, smashing his elbows into the armor plating that covers Eraqus' chest and stomach.
"Ventus, calm down. You're going to hurt yourself."
"I don't care!" Ven's response is dripping with anger and bitterness. "Pain is just weakness leaving the body."
Eraqus is glad that Ventus' back is to him; he can openly express his horror at the boy's words without fear of upsetting the youth further.
Certainly, there was something to be said for the ability of a warrior—especially a Keyblade Wielder—to tolerate a substantial amount of physical pain, that was an assumed risk. However, that lesson wasn't meant to be learned until after the student understood that the master—hopefully—was doing it out of a genuine desire to help the student, and not out of malice. And, such lessons were never meant to push the student to their limits.
Obviously, Ventus has other ideas.
"Be as that may, I do care. I don't want you to hurt yourself; definitely not intentionally."
"Let go," Ventus' voice is softer, the beginnings of tears thickening the sound.
"I cannot. Not until I know that you are safe."
The boy slumps forward, crying quietly—Eraqus can feel the tears dripping onto his robe. The child in his lap reminds him so much of Terra when he was younger; he has the same stubborn tendency to ignore the pain he's feeling until it becomes too much to bear.
"I am here for you, Ventus," he says, pulling the boy a little closer. "But I can only help if you let me."
***L&B***
Aqua pauses to consult her list.
Behind her,Terra groans.
"Are we done yet?" he whines, clearly trying to suppress a chuckle.
"I'm going to smack you," Aqua warns, though, privately, she's just as amused as he is. "Almost. Just a couple more things."
Aqua arrives at the infants department, pausing at the threshold to the aisle containing the diapers and other paraphernalia associated with them, her stomach churning with unease. Brushing the uncomfortable sensation aside, she pushes forward and begins putting items in the cart.
Terra doesn't comment on the pacifiers, or the sippy cups, or even the bottles, but:
"Are the diapers really necessary?" He's actually fidgeting, and his face expresses both disbelief, and an intense desire to be somewhere—anywhere —else.
"Yes." Aqua replies, firmly, in almost the exact same tone she would use if Ven was being uncooperative. "I don't particularly like waking up covered in urine, nor do I want to wash my sheets every morning. These are only for night time—if Ven's going to be staying with me, I'd prefer to keep my bed clean."
Terra makes a vaguely affirmative noise, clearly uncomfortable, but he doesn't press the issue. Aqua feels bad for him, really. He's endured the clothes shopping portion—suffered through the countless 'Oh, isn't this adorable', and 'Won't Ven looks so cute in this' comments, that he obviously saw as an affront to his masculinity, but he never once complained.
Aqua looks at the list again. "I think that's everything…"
"What's wrong?" Terra asks suddenly.
"I'm just…worried about Ven. What if he's not behaving? What if he's hurt? What if he's panicking because were not around? What if—" Aqua frowns at not realizing that her apprehension was so obvious; but then again, Terra has always been the one with the impassive poker face. Her breath hitches without her permission and her eyes are suddenly welling and Kingdom Hearts, what has she gotten herself into?
How is she going to do this?
She doesn't have the slightest inkling of how to be a mother; as much as it would irk her to admit it any other time—she's barely an adult herself.
For the first time, it dawns on her just how much growing she still has to do, how much she still has to lean, how…inadequate she is to be Ven's Mommy.
"Aqua, he's fine. Take a deep breath. Relax." Terra says, pressing a finger to her lips, very soft, very gentle. "Master Eraqus is a very capable person; he can handle Ven for a few hours."
Had she spoken aloud? She doesn't remember.
"But—" There are so many other things she has to say, so many other uncertainties that have to be addressed, she doesn't even know where to begin…
"Aqua," Terra begins slowly, gently, firmly, kneeling down across from her. He gently takes her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and guides her eyes to meet his. "Stop."
She can literally feel the tenderness in his voice, it wraps around her like a blanket, warm and soft and soothing. And she understands then: this is why Ven feels so secure with Terra, because his face is kind and patient and It's alright, I'll take care of you. Don't be afraid.
And, when she looks into his eyes, she believes it.
"It's good that you're afraid," Terra's saying. "It means you understand the importance of what we're doing for Ven. But it'll be alright. It takes time to learn about someone, and Ven's only been with us for two days—it's not really reasonable to expect yourself to know him well enough to provide for his every need in so short a time span. I know you want to, and I don't doubt for a second that you can, just…try to relax. These things take time. Don't be so hard on yourself."
Aqua is quiet for a moment, basking in his words, wiping at her wet cheeks with her shirtsleeve.
And then: "Thank you," her lips ghost against Terra's cheek, so brief and fleeting, that if he hadn't been watching her, he might not have felt it at all.
Terra's cheeks color, and Aqua takes a moment to savor the sight of Terra blushing—there's a very real possibility that she might never see it again. And then, he schools his expression back to normalcy, calm and cool and collected.
"No sweat," He throws a roguish grin her way, and is he flirting? She's never seen him smile like that before…
She gives him a playful nudge, ducks her head—maybe, possibly, almost flirting back—ducks her head and tries unsuccessfully to stifle the utterly girly giggle that escapes her as she watches through her eyelashes for his reaction.
"We should get back," Aqua says finally, all-business, and sternness and Mommy again. "Hopefully things haven't gotten too out of control…"
Terra reaches over to ruffle her hair—as much as she pretends to hate it, he sees through her façade, knows that she really doesn't mind. "You worry too much."
***L&B***
Or, perhaps, she doesn't worry enough.
The first thing she notices is the gaping hole in the microwave. If she looks closely enough, she can see what looks like the remains of the egg timer, but it's too far away to know for sure.
"What happened?" Aqua's voice is terse, her question comes out more like a demand, and she's too worried to feel remorseful about her lack of respect toward her master.
"We had a little bit of an incident after you left," Eraqus explains mildly. "It's all under control."
Aqua stares him down, and Terra finds himself praying that he's never on the receiving end of that particular stare, he can feel the heat from where he's standing.
"I see. And where is Ven now?"
"He's resting," Eraqus gestures toward the couch, where Ven is curled up in a ball, thumb in his mouth, drooling onto the armrest.
He looks so innocent and peaceful in sleep, when his eyes aren't hooded with a haunted gleam, and his shoulders aren't slumping under the weight of the memories he bears.
Aqua doesn't have the heart to wake him up; at least not until she sees the wet patch surrounding his crotch, and seeping into the couch cushions. She looks over at Terra and he nods, silently acknowledging that she's right.
She leans down and brushes Ven's sweat-damp hair from his face, and presses a kiss to his forhead.
"Mommy's home, little one."
Ven blinks sleepily, and his eyes brighten as he catches sight of her, and for a single, beautiful moment, there's nothing but sheer, unbridled joy on his face.
And then he wakes up.
His expression shifts from joy to horror as he pats himself down.
"Fuck!" He snarls, swinging a fist viciously into the armrest.
"Ven, calm down, it's okay. I know you didn't do it on purpose…and watch your mouth, young man." Aqua tells him, gentle, but firm.
"Calm down?" Ven snaps. "I'm so fucked up that I can't even sleep like a normal person; and you want me to calm down? This is bullshit!" He sneers, eyes welling with moisture that doesn't match the angry scowl on his face.
Aqua takes him by the shoulders firmly, but not with enough force to hurt him. "That's enough of your potty mouth, little one. I understand that you're upset, and that is okay, it's healthy, but I absolutely will not tolerate language like that, especially not from you. If you need to talk about how you feel, that's perfectly fine, but if you can't use nice words, you are going to have to sit in time-out until you can express yourself appropriately."
Ven's whole body is trembling, and his breath comes in harsh, ragged gasps. He slams a fist into his thigh. "Dammit." He growls, and then winces. "Sorry."
"It's okay." Aqua leans forward to kiss his forehead again. "You know I love you, right?"
Ven nods, but doesn't say anything else.
"And I will never, ever be mad at you for something you can't help."
Ven sniffles, fists, clenching and unclenching endlessly, his breathing harsh and labored; he's clearly fighting tears. He coughs, and immediately swipes at his eyes, clenches his teeth, anything to keep the tears at bay.
"It's okay to cry if you need to, Ven. It doesn't make you weak, and I won't love you any less because of it."
Ven's face crumples, almost as if he was waiting for permission, and the tears stream down his face to drip off his chin.
Aqua brushes them away. "Hey," she says softly, pulling him to her, running her fingers through his hair. "We can fix this. Why don't you go get cleaned up, and I'll take care of things out here."
Ven stiffens and clings to her tighter. "No! Don't leave me again! I'm sorry!"
Aqua bites back a sigh. "It's okay, little one. I'm not going anywhere. But, you need a bath, so we will be going to the bathroom." She lifts him onto her hip, fighting the instinctive urge to wrinkle her nose as his wet clothing makes contact with her skin. She turns to make eye contact with Terra. "Do you mind…"
"I've got it covered." He says calmly, reaching out to ruffle Ven's hair. "It's okay, buddy, it's not the end of the world."
Ven buries his face in Aqua's neck.
"Thanks," the blue-haired apprentice tosses over her shoulder as she carries Ven into the bathroom, with the shopping bag containing the baby items in her other hand.
Ven takes to the bath with considerably less enthusiasm than she's expecting, but he seems to appreciate the small collection of bath toys she bought for him at the store, and the no-tears shampoo was definitely a good call, she notes. However, when he decides that the tiny toy boat must be capsized by a massive wave, Aqua makes an executive decision herself: bathtime is over.
Ven yawns, blinking owlishly as she dries him off with a towel in her room.
"Are you still sleepy?"
Ven nods. "Sorry…I di'n't mean to wet on the couch, Mommy."
Aqua kisses his forehead and pulls him into another hug. "I know you didn't baby, and I'm not upset. Do you want to lay down for a little bit longer?"
Ven nods again.
Aqua sits down on the bed and pulls a towel-wrapped Ven into her lap. "Okay, little one. I want you to listen to Mommy very carefully, okay?" she waits for him to nod a third time before continuing. "I know that you can't help wetting the bed, and I will never, ever be angry at you for that. But, I bet it's not very comfy waking up all wet, is it?" she knows from personal experience that it isn't, but she wants Ven to come to that conclusion on his own.
Ven shakes his head. "No. It feels yucky, Mommy."
Aqua rubs his back gently. "I know. But, I have an idea that might help…Do you want to try?" she quietly steels herself for another emotional explosion, even as she prays for the exact opposite; she's starting to feel a little drained herself.
She reaches into the bag and takes out the package of diapers and the baby powder and laying them on the bed next to her.
Ven only blinks, he doesn't offer any sort of resistance or start screaming in outrage, he just looks at her with round, trusting eyes.
"I know you might think these are for babies, and I won't force you to wear them if you don't want to, but I really think this is for the best. This way, if you do have an accident, you don't have to worry about waking up in a wet bed." And neither do I…Aqua adds silently.
"Okay." Ven says after a moment's deliberation. "I don't like being wet." He wrinkles his nose adorably, and Aqua kisses his forehead again before sitting him down next to her.
"Thank you for trusting me, Ven." Aqua says, before proceeding to diaper him. She moves as quickly and efficiently as she can, mostly to avoid embarrassing Ven—well, that, and regardless of his present state of mind, she's not overly fond of seeing him naked…
"There," she says as she finishes taping on the garment. "All done…Are you okay?"
Ven nods. "This is comfy." He admits, and yawns again.
Aqua smiles, both at his acceptance and at the fact that he looks so cute in just his diaper. "I'm glad." She lifts him back onto her hip so she can pull back the covers and slide him into bed. "There we go," she says, pulling the covers up to his chin.
He must be close to falling asleep again already, because his thumb is already in his mouth again by the time she's finished.
"Oh," Aqua rifles through the bag again, before triumphantly retrieving one of the pacifiers. "Mommy got you a present, Ven," she holds up the object. "It's okay to suck your thumb if you want, but I thought you might like to try this instead." It dawns on her that she doesn't really know Little Ven all that well either, despite the fact that he trusts her implicitly, and she finds herself hoping that she hasn't overstepped.
Ven grins and switches out his thumb for the pacifier. He mumbles something that sounds distinctly like 'thank you' around it, and then something else that is definitely:
"I love you, Mama," even if it is a little slurred by the pacifier.
"I love you too, baby." Aqua leans down to kiss his forehead one last time before heading for the door.
"Rest easy, little one." She says, and closes the door behind her.
This one feels a little rushed to me at the end, but I couldn't think of a better way to introduce diapers into the story…let me know what you think; I kind of glossed over that part because I didn't want it to be awkward…
Anyway, we had some TerQua bonding, gonna be taking things a little slow on that front; and we got to see a little more of what goes on in Ven's head, and we'll see more of that in future chapters.
See you next chapter!
~Script