Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original ideas and characters. Thank for reading!

On November 11th We Remember those who served and serve. Thanks.

Moving In

Taking a moment to process that after thanking the boy for the compliment concerning his personal scent, Harry had to restrain himself from sniffing himself to confirm the boy's observation. Which was impressive, actually, and suggested that he was right to think that he was going to have to clue the boy into certain things that were generally supposed to be kept in the family, so to speak. In the world they lived in people knew that there was individuals walking around with various gifts that were outside the 'normal', so to speak. In this time in history it was acknowledged, and persecuting someone for it was illegal, but people generally didn't advertise or seek training for their gifts unless they were so strong that to do otherwise was sure to bring harm to themselves and others. Harry himself came from an old magical family, and both his gifts and shifter status were well known among his peers. Those magic users who were not part of the old families…well they didn't have the protection or opportunities to grow and learn that he had.

For that matter, the only reason they had documentation that Eggsy's grandfather had an Air Gift was because the man had been a pilot before his retirement, and had had to make use of his abilities in a particular tricky situation during a flight a few decades ago. The man had ended up in the hospital for a couple weeks afterwards, having magically exhausted himself, and thus there were records to be had and reviewed.

As for the existence of shifters and magical creatures…they were known to exist, and those who fit under that category hid themselves very, very well to survive in a world too often full of individuals who saw them as curiosities, abominations, or something to use and exploit.

Which brought him back to the boy's question about the nature of his other self.

"What makes you believe I'm a selkie?"

"Well there ain't a lot of water types that call England home, and with your colorin and the fact that you're super posh and from one of the old families, I'm guessin…well selkies are the only ones with legit human forms naturally. So's they'd be the ones you lot would be more likely ta shag, right? Less chance of being accused of bestiality and such."

Inclining his head, Harry smiled a little over the boy's wording. "Well reasoned. And correct. When my great grandfather was a young man there was a…diplomatic incident between the magical community and the shifters that required, among other things, for several high ranking members of the magical community to marry shifters to create tighter bonds and…put us in our places, really."

Eggsy brows furrowed as he stated that he thought the shifters were considered less powerful, in the grand scheme of things.

"A common misconception. What it comes down to is…the Gifted use magic, but those with other blood ARE magic. And outnumber us significantly, for that matter." The Gifted weren't few in numbers, per say, but when it came to having the proper training and power to use it, they were at a distinct disadvantage. And one of the reasons Kingsman had been formed in the first place, for that matter. To protect the Gifted from those who would harm them, as well as deal with the rogue shifters and those who used their Gifts to break the law or harm others.

But back to the conversation they were having.

"Many of my peers will deny it to their dying breath, Eggsy, but there are many who believe, as I do, that the Gifted came into being because their human ancestors mated with magical beings, and thus their biological gifts mutated into today's elemental gifts when mixed with human DNA."

"Makes sense." Eggsy agreed, after he'd thought it over.

"To me as well. There are a number of books on the subject in my personal library that you're welcome to read if you're interested."

"And you're really down with me livin with ya?"

"Well I'd imagine we're both going to irritate the hell out of each other occasionally, but I think we're both adult enough to work through that for Daisy's sake, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have any questions for me?"

Biting down on his bottom lip, and working it with his teeth as he contemplated the question, Eggsy finally shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing's really coming ta mind at the moment. The social worker told me about ya, and I wasn't expectin none of this. I'll probably have questions later."

"Fair enough. For now I would suggest we leave it that you read that contract, make sure it's agreeable to you, and then I'll have you come to my place to help my housekeeper get it ready for your sister. I understand that child proofing it will take time, and the social worker will want to look everything over before she turns Daisy over to me. You'll want to move into your room as well, and I'll also need you to either buy or inform me what I need to buy for her when it comes to furniture and such." He had no idea what a three year old girl needed, but hopefully the boy had some idea.

"I'll make a list; let ya know prices and such. She ain't used ta havin much, so it won't be a lot."

Frowning, Harry immediate corrected that way of thinking. "Eggsy, I'm more than capable of paying for whatever she needs. I expect money to be spent on books and toys, as well as a new bed and paint job, since the present blue of her room is fairly plain. I intend to open an account for her expenses, which you'll be able to access and draw from. I'll want the receipts, at least in the beginning, but I'm not…I will raise her as though she's a member of my family, not a poor relative I feel obligated to house and clothe. If that makes sense to you."

Eggsy studied him for nearly a good minute before he nodded his head.

"Good. Now if you'd get out your phone I'll give you my address and phone number, and once you're ready to sign or further discuss your contract we can meet at the house and get more taken care of. All right?"

"Yeah. All right. Thanks, Mr. Hart."

Taking the hand Eggsy had offered him, Harry smiled as he gently squeezed. "It's Harry. And you're welcome."

)

A few days later Harry answered the knock on his front door to find Eggsy waiting for him on the other side, two boxes and a tote at the boy's feet, as well as a ratty backpack slung over one shoulder. Which made sense, as the whole point of Eggsy coming by was to drop off items that belonged to the boy's family that he'd managed to hold onto for himself and Daisy. Harry had told him to bring it all with him, along with the signed contract, and then they were going to go around the house to check over the childproofing his housekeeper had already done for them, as the woman had raised four children and knew plenty about such things. And who apparently didn't trusted two men to do an adequate job of it.

Smart woman, Mrs. Talbot.

"Some place. If the directions hadn't been so bloody detailed, I'd have thought this wasn't the place. Not what I was expectin."

"And what were you expecting?" Harry asked as he moved to pick up one of the boxes, waving off Eggsy's protests as he lifted it up. He wasn't that old, thank you very much.

"Well I was expecting somethin posh, and this is, but it's not…wasn't expectin the butterflies." Trailing off, Eggsy shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, looking a little sheepish before turning his attention to slugging the tote over his free shoulder, then grabbing the other box.

"Careful. One at a time."

"I'm stronger than I look. And it ain't much, really. All the big stuff had ta go when they kicked me out of the flat."

Shaking his head a little Harry didn't bother to argue, instead gesturing towards the staircase. "Well I'll show you to your room and Daisy's first, and you can put all this in there. Then I'll give you a tour of the place if that suits you."

"Sounds good."

Leading the way, Harry explained the living arrangements while they headed up. "To the right is my room, bath, and study. To the left will be both your rooms, your bathroom, and a sitting room that my grandmother converted into a sort of craft room, which I in turn converted into a library. There are books downstairs, and magic related ones in my study as well."

"That's a lot of books." Eggsy sounded cheered by the idea, which pleased him.

"Quite. And as I mentioned, you can update both bedrooms as you see fit. I looked over the pictures and prices you sent me for furniture, and most were more than reasonable. And I'm discounting the cheaper ones, by the way, not the more expensive pieces. Except for that one bed with the odd faced finials. That's not going in my house. I feel I must be firm on that." Not that he'd be spending much time in the girl's room, but still…

"The what now? Finials?"

"The proper term for the ornamentation sometimes added to the tops of bedposts and such."

"Oh. All right. I think I know which one ya mean, and I'll strike it from the list. Weren't my favorite. I figure for the princess one, if that was okay. With the canopy thingie."

"That would be fine. I have the card I mentioned to you before downstairs, so you can start arranging that today, if you have time."

"Sure. No problem."

"Excellent. And here's your room. The bathroom is between the two of you." Having left the door open in anticipation of their hands being full, Harry walked in and then turned around to get a sense of what Eggsy thought of the room. He only had the two guestrooms, after all, and he'd thought the bigger room more appropriate for Daisy. In his admittedly limited experience, females always needed more stuff around them than males did.

Whistling under his breath Eggsy put down his box, tote, and backpack, and then spun in a slow circle to take the room in. Not that there was much to take in in Harry's direction. Though it was way roomier than most guestrooms, since it had originally been a regular bedroom.

Judging the boy's expression to mean he liked it, Harry smiled when Eggsy confirmed it, the boy grinning as he said it was great.

"I'm glad you like it. Does this box stay here or into Daisy's?"

"Here for now, I have to go through the lot of it. Had to pack it all up fast, and some of it is more just keepsakes, that sort of thing. Here, I'll take that."

Letting Eggsy take the box from him, Harry watched at it was set on top of the other box before suggesting that they move on to Daisy's room.

"Cheers."

Daisy's room had slightly oversized windows, one of which featured a box seat Harry thought the little girl would enjoy. Or put her stuffed animals on, at least. It was a good spot to curl up and sunbath, too, when the sun actually bothered to make an appearance. The walls were a pale blue with white trim, and he'd had the original bed moved out and put into storage already, the knickknacks and paintings gone as well.

Giving the room an even more thorough look see, Eggsy smiled widely at him once he was done. "This is lovely, Harry. Specially that seat by the window. She'll love that. And the blue will even work with what I got planned, since ya said it could be painted."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I got a mate, Ryan, who's in ta art and shit. He's no Picasso or nothin, but I talked ta him and asked about im comin here and paintin flowers and that sort of thing on the walls. I figure even as she grows she won't get sick of that till she'd at least a tween."

"A what?"

"Early teens, Bruv."

"Ah." To say he was greatly behind today's slang would not be an exaggeration.

"I can show ya some of his stuff, if ya want. He's got a DeviantArt account."

Harry wasn't sure what that was either, but surmised that it was an online site that featured amateur artists. And he trusted that Eggsy had the sense not to waste his money on a bad paint job, even if it was his friend he was paying for it. The boy was too smart for that.

"I'm sure it will be fine. You can paint your room too, while you're at it. My grandmother was fond of blue, and did the house's rooms in various shades back when she lived here. I changed the rooms I cared about when I moved in, but I didn't bother with the guestrooms."

"Nah. Teal's good. And I ain't picky, either."

"I happen to like it myself. Now then, shall we look over the rest of the house? And there's one detail downstairs Mrs. Talbot thought I should discuss with you."

Eyebrows rising with interest, Eggsy asked what that something was.

"How Daisy would react to a stuffed dog in the loo."

Blink. Blink. "A wot?"

"Stuffed dog."

This time Eggsy just stared at him, brows furrowed. "Ya mean like it was a real dog, then ya got it stuffed after it died?"

"Exactly."

"In the loo?"

"Yes."

Another pause.

"What the fuck would ya do that for?"

"I keep Mr. Pickles around as a reminder. And I would prefer not to keep him in my bedroom or study."

"Not sure what's worse, really. The name ya stuck im with, or the fact that ya stuffed im ta add insult to injury." Face flooding with color as he realized what he'd just said, Eggsy tried to apologize but Harry just laughed it off, well used to such comments.

"Quite all right. Merlin has said much the same thing hundreds of times at this point. And I assure you that the blasted animal deserved both fates for the shoes he ruined alone."

Shaking his head with cheeks still bright pink, Eggsy gave him a rueful smile. "I'm guessing he ain't big, if ya got im in the loo?"

"Terrier."

"She should be alright with it." A gleam of humor came into those bright green eyes. "So butterflies and a terrier, eh? Anything else dead around here I'm gonna have ta explain ta her?"

"No. That's it."

"Cheers." Pause. "Ya really have a friend named Merlin?"

"I really do."

A bright laugh. "And here I thought I got screwed in the name department."

"There are worse names than Gary." Harry pointed out. "I can think of much worse, in fact."

And so the two entertained each other listing off horrible names a person could be stuck with as they headed downstairs to tour the rest of the house.

)

The next day Harry sat behind his desk, annoyed that the phone call with Mrs. Talbot was over already, and therefore he had no excuse not to get back to work on the piles of paperwork set out before him. Because really, it was no wonder that the former head of Kingsman had gone over to the dark side earlier in the year, given that the bastard had been faced with this every day. He'd go insane as well, after decades of this. And since he was more dangerous than King had ever hoped to be, Harry thought again that he really was going to have to get his arse in gear when it came to finding ways to delegate some of this to other people.

Picking up the first piece of paper to review, Harry set it back down with a delighted smile at the knock on his door, calling out for whoever it was to enter.

"Seeing you smile like that is disturbing."

"Then you should bloody well find someone to replace me before this job pushes me further around the bloody bend." Harry shot back as he watched Merlin close the door behind him.

Merlin's grin was just a little evil as he took a seat in front of Harry's desk. "But this way you have more consistent hours, which is good since you're a parent now."

Feeling a new twitch developing under his eye, he'd been getting those a lot since he'd become Arthur, Harry had to take a moment to remind himself that he wasn't really going to be a parent. That was Eggsy's unofficial job.

"How'd your meeting with the boy go yesterday?"

"Well, actually. He ordered the furniture needed for Daisy's room, and then came by the house today to supervise it being unloaded and put it together. We thought it best for the social worker to see that everything is set up and ready for her even though it will have to be rearranged again when it's being painted. And Mrs. Talbot likes him, even if he does dress like a hoodlum in her opinion."

"I would imagine a number of your neighbors aren't going to know what to make of having a chav in their neighborhood."

"They'll have to adapt. As will he."

"Do you think he can?"

"I think there's very little he won't do for his sister." Leaning back in his chair, Harry considered the boy in question. "Not to take all the blame off him, because some of it belongs squarely on his shoulders, but I do think that a lot of his bad choices wouldn't have happened, if he'd had someone in his life he could lean on. And a safe place, where he knew he wouldn't be harmed. I can give him that safe place easily enough, and as for the rest…well I can at least give him something of a positive role model. I'll see him more than her, after all, given how early three year olds go to bed." And thank all the powers that be that it would be Eggsy, not him, who would have to get up at ungodly times in the morning because of how early children woke up as a result of their early bedtimes.

He shuddered just thinking about that.

Give him a rabid werewolf or insane Fire Gifted any day.