Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.
Weekend Plans
Addison had come to discuss the fact that Harry had directed Miss. Morton not to bother attempting to track down Porter, which Harry really should have seen coming upon further reflection. The two men had a long and very explosive relationship with each other, no pun intended, and Addison was prone to jumping on any opportunity or legitimate excuse to try and bring the arms dealer in. Dead or alive. Or at least that's what Bors said. Personally Harry fairly sure that the older man actually enjoyed matching wits and magic with the American, but he knew better than to even suggest that.
"I understand. I do. We all have those one that got away that niggling at us like splinters under our skin from time to time. Porter…well he's a splinter for a lot of us. But even if we found and brought him in he's no one's weasel, as he's told us all many times."
"He could probably lead us straight to Tamara." Addison muttered bad-temperedly.
"Probably. But as long as that creepy elf on a shelf pays him, he won't betray her."
"Elf on a shelf?"
"It's what she looks like."
Addison thought that over for a moment and then noticeably winced. "God, you're right. She does look like one of those wretched things. Humans and their ideas of what elves should look like."
Together they shared a look that expressed just how ridiculous normal people could be when it came to magical creatures. When it came to elves though, ordinary humans seemed determined to either cast them as cheerful, impish sorts, or Lord of the Rings sexy. The truth was that there were many kinds of elves, their looks varying accordingly. Of course very few still dwelled on this world thanks to the ever growing human population, deforestation, and low magical levels.
"I'm going to create an elf on the shelf bomb. Just for her."
"Send one to Porter too." Harry was confident that the American was too smart to get himself blown up that easily, but would love the idea of it and probably keep it as a toy. It was always a good idea to stay on Porter's side, especially when they needed him to acquire something for Kingsman.
Obviously liking that idea Addison stated his plans to go out the next day to find a couple of the dolls to take apart to experiment with.
And since talking about blowing things up made the older man happy Harry listened patiently, if without interest, for a while until Addison's enthusiasm for the new project had the man announcing that he really should be going, since he wanted to write his ideas down to make sure that he didn't forget anything.
Stating that he would see Addison out then Harry got out from behind his desk and escorted Bors out of his office, the two of them walking in silence down the hallway until they reached the stairs.
"So how long ARE you intending to keep the boy here?"
"As long as he wishes to stay." That hadn't been the original plan, but he hadn't had Eggsy's food then. He'd pay the boy a generous salary just to stay and feed him.
The sound Bors made wasn't words, but Harry got the just of what the other man was implying.
"No. Eggsy and I don't have that sort of relationship. We're…family."
Addison made the same sound again.
To keep the peace, and not scare the heck out of Daisy by getting into a heated argument with Addison about the nature of his relationship with Eggsy of all things, Harry settled for giving his colleague a dark look and deliberately taking the stairs as fast as he could. Just to rub it in how much longer his legs were in the process.
Retrieving Addison's coat Harry handed it over, resisting the urge to open the door to make his desire for the man to leave too obvious.
Smirking a little, Addison shrugged the coat on and then he was holding out his hand to Harry, Harry taking and shaking it.
"Thank you for the meal. Good luck with the boy and child. You'll need it."
"A pleasure as always, Addison."
Chuckling, a rare sound for the man to make, Addison inclined his head and then let himself out, Harry happy to both close and lock the door behind the man.
)
It hadn't been a complete disaster, far from it, actually, but thank goodness it was over. His relaxing weekend could begin now, if the gods were willing to cut him a break. Addison showing up here unexpectedly more than likely foreshadowed the fact that that definitely wasn't going to be the case, but Harry was too happy from dinner and not having anything in his home lit on fire to dwell on the negative right now. For now he'd just go upstairs and let the remaining two occupants in the room know that Addison was gone before making himself a martini and…perusing his bookshelves for something to read.
Pleased at the idea Harry headed up the stairs and then turned to the left to start towards Daisy's room, the bedroom door ajar. Which was why he paused within a stride of reaching it, the sound of Eggsy singing startling Harry into freezing in place. A position he continued to hold as he first marveled at the rhythm of the song, which struck him as both Celtic and folksy in nature, and then he was really listening, his brows furrowing over the lyrics.
"Underneath the elfen oak
She has unearthed that faery treasure
Of which her grandmother spoke.
Just before the stroke of midnight
They have made it back to sea
And she has donned the magic seal coat
And become a maid Selkie
Now they've gone into the ocean
Hand in hand into the sea
She has gone along
A fair seal bride for a Selkie."
There were not a lot of songs about his kind, at least not to the best of his knowledge, and Harry didn't recognize this one at all. But what was now worrying him was the fact that most stories and songs about his kind involved the stealing and hoarding of a selkie's coat in order to force it to remain with the one who'd robbed them of their other form. And yes most stories ended with the selkie finding their seal coat at some point and returning to the sea, but the last thing he wanted was for Eggsy to be thinking about, or putting the idea into Daisy's head, that finding his coat would make her a seal. That wasn't possible and while he didn't believe Eggsy would ever-
Thoughts drowned out by Daisy loudly demanding the song again, the tone of both hers and Eggsy's voice making it clear they'd been arguing about it back and forth for a bit while he'd zoned out, Harry's mind went silent as he waited to see what Eggsy would say.
"All right, all right. ONE more time. Then ya have ta go ta sleep, kay?"
"Ogay."
"Once a fair and handsome seal-lord lay his foot upon the sand
For to woo the fisher's daughter and to claim her marriage hand
I have come in from the ocean, I have come in from the sea
And I'll not go to the waves, love, lest ye come along with me
Lord, long have I loved you as a selkie on the foam
I would gladly go and wed ye and be lady of your home
But I cannot go in to ocean, I cannot go into the sea
I would drown beneath your waves, love, if I went along with thee."
Oh. Understanding dawning, Harry leaned his back against the wall as he listened to the story of a woman in love with a selkie, and who went to her grandmother to ask if there was some way they could be together that wouldn't end in death for one of them. As it turned out the grandmother's mother had either stolen or given up her own coat at some point, burying it, which her great granddaughter in turn dug back up to become a selkie so that she could join her love beneath the ocean's waves.
A lovely song, Harry thought with a smile, and Eggsy sang it well. He hadn't been aware the boy had this talent to add to the multitude of other gifts he possessed.
It was also a song Eggsy had apparently sang for Daisy before, as the girl chimed in with parts of it, struggling over the words but singing what she knew with enthusiasm. Adorable.
When the song was done Eggsy announced that that was that, and Daisy had to go to sleep now.
"Eggsy."
With a resigned sigh Eggsy asked her, "Wot?"
"Can I willy see one when I get big? A weal selkie?"
"Like I told ya before, Flower, I'll take ya ta see one when you're a bit older and ya can swim real good. I pinky swore and everythin."
"And pet im?"
"If he says it all right."
A pause as Daisy considered that. "Eggsy?"
"Daisy…"
"I willy like it here."
"I really like it here too."
"Are we gonna stay ere with Uncle Harry for forever?"
A low chuckle. "Well I don't know about that, but you'll be all grown up before you leave here, promise. And I'm glad you like living with Uncle Harry."
"He makes sure you don't get ouchies or be sad no more."
A long moment of silence.
"And he smells pretty ALL the time."
Eggsy's laughter was bright and happy as he choked out an agreement that yes, Harry did smell very nice.
If Eggsy said something in response to that it was too low for a now blushing Harry to hear, everything quiet for long enough that Harry's thoughts turned from a desire to kill his former step brother very dead all over again to whether or not he should leave so as not to rile Daisy back up again. And even if his presence didn't rile her it would give her an excuse to remain awake longer when Eggsy was trying to get her to go to sleep.
He had just decided to go, he'd be spending at least some time with her tomorrow given that it was the weekend, when of course Eggsy's body came sliding through the gap without warning, Harry blinking in surprise right along with Eggsy as their gazes met. And then Harry realized that it rather looked like he'd been standing out here eavesdropping on the two.
Dammit.
"Ah…I was going to wish her good night, but then I realized you were struggling to get her to go to sleep and I, well I didn't want to provide her with another excuse to prolong being awake. Addison's gone by the way, and thanks you again for supper."
Flushing a little Eggsy ducked his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, she didn't want ta conk out tonight, though she's tired enough. She'll be asleep soon enough, though."
Desperate for something to talk about, especially since they were both thinking about why they were feeling flustered around the other, Harry asked for the name of the song, as he'd never heard it before.
"Oh. Ah…it's called 'The Maiden and the Selkie', I think. This bird on YouTube sings it, name of Heather Dale. I like her stuff."
"I see. It's lovely."
More awkward silence descended.
"Well I shouldn't keep you. You probably intend to…" Harry trailed off then, because he didn't know what Eggsy planned to do around the house. He hadn't mentioned going out, and the few times Eggsy's friends had been over it had been while Harry was at work. He had yet to meet any of them.
Eggsy smiled. "Gonna make some popcorn and watch 'Robin Hood' on the telly."
"You have room for popcorn?"
The look Eggsy have him silently reminded Harry that he was talking to a young man in his twenties. Of course Eggsy still had room for more food.
"Nevermind. Which version of 'Robin Hood' are you watching? I've always been partial to the nineteen ninety one version with Alan Rickman and Kevin Costner."
"Mum liked that one too. Serious Rickman fan." A saucy grin. "And who could blame her? Fucking loved him in 'Die Hard' and the Harry Potter movies. But no. I'm going for the Russell Crowe version. Came out a few years ago."
"The one with Cate Blanchett, yes? I remember hearing about it, but I've yet to see it."
"Critics didn't like it, but me mates and I thought it was pretty sick. Plus the main bad guy looks a lot like Merlin, come ta think of it, so ya should see it for that alone." A telling little pause, with Eggsy glancing down as he spoke. "If ya aren't doin nothing, ya could watch it with me."
He'd planned to read a book…but it had been years since he'd just hung out and watched a movie with someone. And right this minute…that seemed a horrible thing.
"I'd love to."
"Cheers. I'll give you your own bowl of popcorn too. I like mine with a shit ton of butter."
Laughing, Harry agreed that that would be wise.
)
The next morning Harry woke up in an excellent mood, not even caring that it was a Saturday and he could have slept in. Eggsy had promised pancakes for breakfast the night before, and he knew from experience that those were definitely worth waking up for. Especially since he could have a nap latter if he wanted and Eggsy wasn't around to take that as a sign of Harry's more advanced age. Not that he cared what Eggsy thought of his sleeping habits of course, Harry assured himself, he just didn't want the boy worrying that he already had one foot in the grave and might expire before Daisy reached adulthood. It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to appear younger than he was in Eggsy's eyes, or have anything to do with the almost date like atmosphere that had gradually settled over them the night before.
Not that it had been a date of course, and even if it had been…well it was like teenage dating before hormones completely took over one's senses. The telling gap between them, both of them holding themselves just a little stiffly while being very much aware of the other. Ridiculous, really, in retrospect.
But nothing bonded men quite like action movies, and by the halfway point they'd been sitting closer with hardly any space at all between them. Partially because he'd insisted that he only needed a small bowl of popcorn originally, and then had ended up needing to snitch from Eggsy's much bigger bowl because…well because like Eggsy he agreed that popcorn eating was an essential part of movie watching. Even if the boy really did use too butter.
Still good popcorn though, and the latest version of Robin Hood had proven quite enjoyable. Historically inaccurate for the most part, of course, but it had been a fresh, amusing version of the familiar tale. He'd also very much enjoyed the fact that the character Godfrey really did resemble Merlin in looks. He'd have to mention it.
After freshening up a little in the bathroom Harry headed downstairs to find Daisy and Mr. Fox in their usual places, the little girl sipping out of a sippy cup shaped like a penguin.
Remembering the night before Harry opted to walk past her on his way to his seat, giving her head a gentle pat as he asked her if she and Mr. Fox had slept well.
Sippy cup still in her mouth Daisy nodded.
Smiling at her Harry took his seat, waiting until she'd set her cup down before asking if she was looking forward to her yoga class, having only just remembered that today was the day Eggsy had told Jasper he'd be coming with Daisy.
"Danny says it's fun."
"Well I hope so." Actually he wasn't sure he wanted her to enjoy it at all, since if she didn't like it Eggsy wouldn't make her attend. But on the other hand better she be around as opposed to Eggsy taking some classes on his own without children around to act as a buffer, should Jasper want to find out just how flexible Eggsy was.
And thinking about Eggsy flexibility was not a good idea.
Picking up his orange juice to clear his throat and give him an excuse not to talk, Harry was very glad when Eggsy appeared right up until he saw that the boy was still wearing his sleepwear, which seemed to consist of very thin undershirts and sweats that tended to ride just a little too low on Eggsy's hips.
Bugger.
"Here ya go, Flower."
A plate of well cut up pancakes was set in front of Daisy, making her squeal in delight, and then Eggsy was setting another plate in front of him, smiling at Harry in a way that did nothing to help his frame of mind at the moment. "And here's yours. Dig in."
Watching Eggsy leave to go get his own plate Harry noticed Daisy reaching for her fork out of the corner of his eye.
"No eating yet, Daisy. We'll wait for Eggsy to come back."
Visibly pouting Daisy set her fork back down as she slumped in her seat dejectedly. Waiting a minute was apparently an unbearable amount of time to a toddler.
Amused, Harry watched her closely just in case until Eggsy returned with his own plate, giving them questioning looks when he saw that neither of them had touched their breakfast yet.
"We were waiting for you."
"Oh. Ya didn't have ta."
"Yes we did. Right, Daisy?"
Her cheeks stuffed up like a chipmunk's, Daisy just looked at him for a moment as she seemed to question his sanity for even asking.
And then she turned her attention to putting more pancake into her mouth, point made.
Right. His mistake.
