"I am a half-elf, or at least, I pass for one, since apparently everything with enough elven blood to cast magic seems to count." –Danté

Chapter 2.9 - Numb
Part 18

Iselia was as welcoming as always.

Which was to say, Danté got every cold shoulder in the village with a few people muttering that he needed to try this thing called leaving and never coming back.

He ignored them, stopping in at the item shop to get his usual before heading back home.

Home.

Weird concept, but an amazing feeling.

The clerk glanced up, looked back down at his ledger, and then looked up at him again. "Ah, you're back."

Danté nodded. "Yup."

"Usual?"

"Yes, please." Heh, okay, that was bad. This guy actually had his order memorized now.

Still, made it easier.

"Kid's been missing you," the clerk said after a moment. "Think he was starting to worry you weren't coming back."

Danté smirked. "It's going to take one hell of an intervention to stop me from coming back."

The man chuckled. "Yeah. I kinda guessed as much. Heard about what happened at the school after you left last time. My wife and I have decided most of the townsfolk are idiots after that little display."

Danté snorted. "Well. That… kinda does sum that mess up, doesn't it?" He accepted the bag handed to him and headed for the door.

"Take care of yourself."

"Will do," Danté called over his shoulder, slipping out and heading for the school. It was about the right time for class to be letting out, again, and he knew that Dirk had started letting Lloyd make the trip by himself. It wasn't something either of them was truly comfortable with, but Lloyd knew the path, and he knew better than to try to go to the Ranch.

He was settled in right next to the door as he had been the last time—he could hear the teacher speaking from the window next to him, which meant he'd been correct—when he found himself with company.

Blonde company.

The same man who'd stepped in last time he'd stood here, actually.

Danté tilted his head to the side. "Good afternoon."

"I was wondering if you were coming back," the man, Frank, hadn't it been, said. "Danté, I presume?"

Danté nodded. "Yup. That's me."

Frank held out a hand. "Frank Brunel. My daughter, Colette, is one of Lloyd's friends."

Danté pointedly bit back the 'his only friend' retort and shook the man's hand. "Danté Daemione. I just happen to be the mercenary the brat adopted."

There was a moment's pause as Frank digested that.

"I'm guessing that's about exactly how it happened, too," Frank said after a moment. Danté smirked.

"I was lying around in the forest, covered in my own blood, and here's this five year old asking me if I'm alright."

Frank laughed. "That sounds like Lloyd, alright."

Danté shook his head. "Brat dragged me home and wouldn't let me go until he wrangled a promise to come back out of me. And…" Danté paused, shrugged, and shot Frank a small smile. "It's new, having a family. New… but worth it."

"I'm glad you've got him, and that he has you. Half-elf or not, and I honestly doubt the half-elf claims, Lloyd needs more than just Dirk and Colette."

Danté winced. "I'm not sure I'm that great of an influence. And yeah, I am a half-elf, or at least, I pass for one, since apparently everything with enough elven blood to cast magic seems to count. Just… The elven blood's pretty diluted. I got lucky with the physical genetics."

Frank hummed. "Still. Half-elf or not, you're more familiar with humans and our cultures. Dirk isn't."

Danté shot Frank a look out of the corner of his eye, and wondered just where this was going. "I'm guessing this has something to do with Colette being the Chosen."

There was a pause, and Frank sighed. "Yes. To be honest… I'm not sure if I'm pleased with Dirk for not teaching the boy a thing about the Church of Martel, or just annoyed. A large part of why Lloyd doesn't get along with the other children comes down to the simple fact that he refuses to follow the church."

Danté eyed Frank for a long moment, then nodded. "Smart kid. But, I know what you mean about it causing problems. Least I can do is teach him to keep his opinions to himself on what I know the both of us trying to raise him see as religious idiocy." He'd certainly never willingly followed the Order. Especially not after the whole mess with finding out the Score had been leading Auldrant to her doom.

He crossed his arms and was looking around again when Frank put a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't believe a word of the scripture, either, do you?"

Danté glanced up at him, then away again. "Never actually read it. The guy who raised me didn't put much stock in it himself, and by the time the Desians got to him, my working… 'beliefs,' as it were… came down to 'the Desians are annoying, and civilians are stupid.' You can see why I try to keep it to myself."

Frank chuckled. "Well. Given what happened the last time you were right here, I'd say you're correct on at least one of those accounts."

"Both. You don't want to know what sort of Desian-brand idiocy I had to put up with these last few months. And believe me. There was a lot of Desian-brand idiocy." Danté paused, tilted his head to the side, and shot a wary look toward the Iselian Human Ranch. "Which… kinda makes me hope that I don't actually, you know, have any problems getting home. Especially if I'm going to have Lloyd with me."

Frank hummed. "I wish you luck. For now…"

Frank either had the best timing in the world, or he was intimately more familiar with the teacher's schedule than Danté was.

Danté was willing to bet on the latter, even as Lloyd and a little blonde girl stepped out of the school, Lloyd walking only because the girl had a firm grip on his shirt and didn't look up to running.

Mind, the moment they were out the door, she let go, and she and Lloyd were a dozen yards away before Danté snorted. "Oi, brat!"

Lloyd stopped fast enough he damn near face-planted, and then had the little girl falling over top of him when she tripped trying to stop.

Danté and Frank both chuckled, and Danté got the feeling this was little Colette, currently trying to get to her feet and then help Lloyd back up.

Not that Lloyd seemed to notice.

He was too busy staring at Danté.

He tilted his head to the side. "What, not even a 'hello'?"

The grin that spread across Lloyd's face had Colette standing up straight to look at him, and Danté moving away from the wall. Probably a good thing on both accounts, as otherwise Lloyd would have barreled right over the poor blonde to try to get to Danté, who was at least prepared for the damn-near flying tackle Lloyd unleashed on him.

Even so, Danté hadn't quite expected to end up with an armful of six-year-old.

"You came back!"

Danté nodded. "Yeah. I was tempted not to. Deserts tend to have that effect on me. Sadly, I think I'd rather face the desert than have you tracking me down in ten years."

Lloyd looked smug as a bug, Danté mused.

Colette came over, giggling at their antics, and Lloyd's eyes widened before he was wriggling back out of Danté's grip in embarrassment.

He couldn't help but snort at the kid. It was a bit late to not get caught being held by an adult, but… oh well.

…Barely an adult, at that.

"Hi," Colette piped up.

Lloyd grinned. "Colette, this is Danté. Danté, my friend, Colette."

Danté fought back the smirk and bowed. "An honor to meet the Chosen… and a greater honor to meet a friend of Lloyd's."

He wasn't sure who was grinning the widest. Lloyd, Colette, or Frank.

Either way, he didn't care. He reached out and ruffled Lloyd's hair. "You planning to play around for a while, cub?"

"Why do you always call me that…?" Lloyd muttered.

"Habit I picked up from Noishe. You basically get your pick between cub and pup between the two of us."

Lloyd shot him a sour look, and Danté just chuckled. "What? I was raised with a liger."

"And I've got a Noishe."

Colette giggled, and Danté snorted. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm headed home. You wanna come with me now, or…"

Lloyd looked up at him, looked over at Colette, looked at Frank, and then looked at Colette again.

She smiled. "It's okay. I'll see you Lunaday, right?"

Lloyd grinned back, and then hugged her. "Yup!"

Danté glanced over at Frank, who just looked pleased with the two of them. Whether it was because Colette was clearly giving up playtime with Lloyd so he could walk home with Danté, or because Lloyd had looked to her before simply making up his mind, Danté wasn't sure.

Lloyd was bouncing along right next to him a moment later, as Danté started off toward the exit from town. He glanced up at one point as they walked past the path that led off toward the Ranch, but when no Desians jumped out, Danté let himself relax a bit.

He instantly regretted it when they reached the house.

Noishe was tense, tail lashing back and forth and ears pressed against his head, even as Dirk outright glared at the man standing in front of the house.

Danté knew that uniform anywhere, and from the style…

Lloyd gasped and pressed himself into Danté's leg. Looked like he'd recognized the uniform, too.

The half-elf turned at the sound, eyes catching on Lloyd and Danté both.

Danté narrowed his eyes at him. "Afternoon."

Dirk shot him… no, Lloyd, a terrified look.

"Does the name 'Slate' mean anything to you?" the half-elf asked.

Danté tensed a little more, ready and willing to grab Lloyd and run for it. He'd be leaving Dirk to his own devices, but the dwarf would understand.

"It might," Danté replied.

A single red iris shifted toward Lloyd, then back to Danté, before the Desian moved, turning and walking away from the door. "I don't think the boy needs to overhear this."

Neither did Danté.

"Go inside," he murmured, gently pushing Lloyd toward Dirk.

"But—!"

"I'll be alright," Danté whispered, tightening his grip on Lloyd's shoulder as a reassurance before striding over to the Desian with a confidence he wished he actually had.

His guns were in his wing pack. His knives… would they be enough?

…They'd have to be.

The Desian waited until Dirk had pulled Lloyd inside the house, and until Danté was within easy striking range. Danté would have considered this foolish, if it weren't for the fact that the man was obviously trying to keep the little kid out of it.

"Kvar struck a deal with you."

Danté crossed his arms. "I was warned that it might get around to the other Grand Cardinals. Forcystus, I presume?"

The man nodded. "I'm guessing any threat to the boy is going to result in men getting slaughtered."

Danté's eyes narrowed. "Very possibly."

"As long as he stays away from the Ranch, I'm willing to put standing orders out for my men to leave him alone. I know a few have been considering snatching him. He is an easy target, walking back and forth between here and the town, and Dirk can't argue that the treaty covers the three of you all the way out here." The man paused here and shot Danté a look. "I know better than to piss off an assassin. Word spread fairly fast. Given what you did in Palmacosta, I'd rather not find out how quickly you can make a wreck of my Ranch."

Danté smirked with a confidence he still didn't feel. "Well. I guess I don't have to actually warn you away then. I was starting to worry I'd need to."

Forcystus was quiet for a bit.

"Am I right in assuming you'd like to keep Dirk and the boy as unaware of your involvement with the Ranches as possible?"

Danté hissed and glanced over at the house. He wasn't blind. Dirk was in the kitchen, alternating glancing at him and Lloyd, who must have been at the table, as that was where the dwarf kept looking.

"I'm not going to be able to hide it from Dirk. I'd rather keep Lloyd out of it for as long as I can."

"You say that like you're under the impression he'll be following in your footsteps."

Danté closed his eyes. "Master Ryndor never planned on my brother and me following in his. Much as I hope he doesn't decide to, if this is the path he wants to take, I'd rather be there to guide him than lose him to a situation I could have easily trained him to avoid."

Green eyes snapped open again, and Danté shot another look at Forcystus.

The half-elf nodded. "Then I should find a way to get messages to you without going through Dirk."

"Erik, in Triet," Danté replied. "He's already been briefed on the situation. They work damn well, too. By the time I got to Palmacosta, the contact point there already knew about the deal. And I didn't waste that much time in Asgard."

Forcystus nodded. "Noted." He moved to leave, pausing partway to look toward the house. "Slate… I wish you luck. The kid seemed like a good one. I'd hate to see him stepping into our parts of the world."

Danté took a deep breath. "That makes two of us."

There was a long pause as Forcystus left, and Noishe padded over, shoving his head under Danté's arm.

"He might be one of the Grand Cardinals, but at least his morals are still mostly straight," Noishe whined quietly. "What was he talking about? Palmacosta?"

Danté grimaced. "Ask me in the morning. Before Lloyd wakes up. I'd really rather not risk he overhears it. He might not be a master of the language yet, but I know he was starting to pick up liger when I left."

Noishe whined a bit more, but didn't respond as Danté shifted, pushing away from the tree he'd ended up leaning against and walking to the door.

He only made it halfway there before he had a little brown and red blur racing toward him for the second time that day.

Once again, he had Lloyd picked up and held in his arms, and this time, Lloyd was clinging to him instead of wriggling to be put down.

"I thought he was gonna take you away!"

"Shh… Nah… He's not taking me anywhere," Danté murmured. "And… He's not taking you anywhere either." He pulled his head back enough to look at Lloyd, and the boy blinked at him. "Don't go poking around the Ranch."

Lloyd sniffled. "Okay. Won't."

Fun Fact:

Void- With how Willful he is in canon… seeing him just accept that is amusing
Me, finding that comment again when preparing to post- He's six. And only barely, at that. At this point, I'm pretty sure the Desians are still the equivalent of the Boogeymen Who Will Get Him If He Doesn't Eat His Vegetables. (Or something to that tune, anyway.)

...It's rather funny, looking at this right now, because later on down the line, the Desians are very much Not The Boogeymen.