It has been. Two. Years.
I am so sorry X'D
Life has been yuck, and I wish I could say it was because of The Plague(TM), but that isn't it. However. I am still alive, and actually, writing quite a bit! Every day!
Just not... finishing anything, hence the not posting stuff.

But here I am! With an offering of... something a bit different from my usual written exploits.
I hope that some of you will enjoy it regardless, as it was fun for me to write ^^

I'll try to be a little more timely with my contributions to this archive; no matter how dead I appear, you would not believe the volume of work I do for this series behind the scenes XD Hopefully, I can share more with you soon!

It was a quiet day in a forest clearing, and Lord Galacta Knight was resting comfortably in the shade of two boulders, kept out of the full strength of the afternoon sun as it filtered down through the sky to rest on the world below. Several yards away, grass became sand, and then stone, and then the surface of a river, running gently east and away, the soft sounds of it meeting the knight's ears comfortably.

His lance was struck firmly in the ground to his side, within reach, (though he had no expectations of using it), and his shield was stored safely in his rarely-seen cape, bound as magic to his wings. While he wore his armor out of habit, he'd given up on decorum and loosened it slightly for comfort.

There was no one to see him looking slightly less than battle-ready, after all.

No one save for his son, who was quite merrily occupied down in the stream; collecting rocks and hunting small minnows that seemed to be a tad too quick for him to catch, but judging by the gleam in his odd eyes and the excited flitters of his wings, he was enjoying the pastime nonetheless.

The day was clear; the azure sky marred by only a few clouds; puffy, cumulus things floating far out of reach, sometimes arranging themselves into curious shapes.

Galacta Knight didn't think of himself as much of a cloud-watcher, but with nothing else to do, his eyes were drawn to them. He found, though, that he rather lacked the imagination for it that others seemed to possess, and wasn't sure what he could liken any of them to…

Maybe a lump. Or a blob.

Then, Galacta Knight was pulled out of his musings by a sudden excited chirp.

He glanced back away from the sky, down to the rocky-lined river that curled round the sloping hill below him.

Meta was standing waist-deep in the flow, by a bend, staring very intently at a dark, slow-moving corner of the river that didn't bring to mind… anything promising.

Galacta Knight frowned. He knew that noise.

His son was only that excited when he found a new small animal to play with and turn into his next obsessive fixation, and judging by the location, whatever it was wasn't likely to be a small animal of the nice, fluffy variety.

Galacta was never so lucky.

Meta was, of course, oblivious to his father's growing wariness; greatly preoccupied with reaching his hand, and then his whole arm, into the dark, ominous pool after whatever it was he'd seen, his wings fanning open to shade the spot from the sun, eyes alight in wonder…

Galacta Knight felt some part of him shiver in disgust.

He sighed long-sufferingly, turning back away to look at the clouds.

He didn't bother imagining what it could possibly be down there. If he was lucky, the thing would crawl away into the current before Meta could catch it, and his son would return empty handed.

Something splashed.

Galacta risked another glance and discovered Meta had pounced straight into the deeper pool.

"No, no- C'mere!"

…Unsuccessfully, it seemed.

But he didn't think for a moment that Meta would give up. He'd inherited enough determination and stubbornness from both his parents for that to be a very unlikely option.

As the haphazard splashes continued, Galacta Knight sighed again, scarlet eyes glimmering orange in annoyance before he turned away again.

He had terrible luck, didn't he. Whatever was "exciting" enough to Meta to warrant such desperate attempts was guaranteed to be absolutely awful.

"I'm not gonna hurt you! We're gonna be friends!"

A discontented hum rose in the back of Galacta Knight's throat as the lord closed his eyes in effort to block out the flurry of splashing and discouraged chirps as his offspring tried fervently to capture whatever aquatic monster he'd discovered in the stream.

"Come here!" Meta was insisting.

"...It doesn't want to come here," Galacta Knight muttered to himself, far out of his son's earshot, "Please leave it where it is…"

A few more splashes and-

"Gotcha!"

Galacta Knight groaned very quietly under his breath.

Unlucky once again.

Slowly he forced his eyes back open to catch his son staring intently at something cupped in his hands, and after a moment or two, he scurried up the hill towards him, soaking wet, grinning, the unseen monster tucked securely between his fingers.

Judging by the look of unrivaled joy, it was an especially terrible one this time.

"Dad!" Meta called out, shaking the water off his wings, "Look!"

"No thank you," The lord said flatly, pointedly not looking.

"Look!"

"No."

"Look what I caught! He's cute!" Meta encouraged, his whole face alight in glee.

Galacta Knight, eyeing the overly-happy sparkle in Meta's milky-white eyes, forced himself to acknowledge that of all the great victories he had won in his life, none remotely compared to keeping that kind of smile on his son's face.

That was enough to make him oblige.

Blinking at Meta in a very unimpressed manner, he willingly pushed himself upright and stepped forward to admire whatever small, terrible water demon inevitably awaited his judgment.

Meta held his hands out, offering his prize for inspection with a concerning amount of pride.

Galacta Knight forced himself to gaze down… Only for a quick look…

At some sort of giant, horrid worm.

Well. He was right. Exceptionally awful.

"Vile," He said automatically, turning around to walk back.

"Dad!"

"Awful-"

"You barely even looked!" Meta exclaimed, throwing his wings up exasperatedly.

"I looked."

He had looked enough for a lifetime at this point-

"You didn't!" He heard Meta's footsteps scurry towards him through the grass, "You have to look properly!"

"Properly" indeed-

Meta skirted around in front of him, cutting him off, and held his hands back out pointedly, fixing his father with a determined stare.

"Look," His son said firmly.

Galacta Knight looked.

The coiled-up menace did not improve on a second viewing.

The creature was a bright, garish sort of red-orange, which… admittedly wasn't what he'd expected from a beast out of the abyss, but it also wasn't as nice-looking a color on that thing as it might have been on any sort of respectable animal.

Like a bird. Or perhaps a butterfly.

It was also covered in little blackish specks.

And it was long.

Long and long and skinny and slimy-

"Awful." He said decisively, stepping around his son. "Put it back."

"He's not awful!" Meta cried indignantly. Galacta's sharp hearing caught him as he whispered quietly to the thing; "You're not awful; I think you're very pretty!"

"Pretty" his ass-

Galacta Knight made his way back up the hill to the boulders where he'd left his lance, honestly fantasizing about using it to skewer the rancid thing. He sat back down between the stones, reclining his horns against them in something like defeat.

Sighing, he shut his eyes, willing the image of the thing out of his head.

It had looked at him with a pair of beady little eyes-

After a few moments of hesitant, demonless bliss, he heard the gentle sound of footsteps that suggested that Meta had followed him.

Then the soft rustle of grass that informed him that Meta had subsequently sat down beside him.

Galacta Knight opened one eye to glance over at his son.

The nasty red thing was still in his hands.

"...That does not look like putting it back." He said.

Meta smiled at him eagerly.

Galacta Knight sighed.

"...Where did you even find that thing? Why do you keep finding worms?" The lord asked tiredly, looking back at the clouds and not bothering to insist again that Meta return it to the river when he knew that he wouldn't.

"Between some rocks underwater." Meta said brightly. Then he looked at his father funnily as if he were trying not to snicker. "He isn't a worm-"

"Snake, then. And if it was between the rocks, how did you see it."

"He isn't a snake!" Meta laughed. "And he's bright red! He wasn't hard to find!"

Well. If it wasn't a worm and it wasn't a snake, then Galacta Knight found he didn't have any interest in knowing what it actually was-

"Which probably means it's poisonous," Galacta Knight replied flippantly, before the realization slowly came over him. He turned sharply back to Meta, his voice stern.

"I don't suppose you know whether it is poisonous?" He demanded, suddenly very aware that if it was, it would be all over Meta's hands.

Meta had the grace to look a little hesitant, his smile faltering.

"Uh… He's only a little poisonous-"

"Meta," His father said sharply, practically jumping upright, wings tense.

"Only a little!" Meta scrambled up himself, holding the slimy thing close, "It doesn't hurt! He's not doing anything! I only know that he's poisonous 'cause I read it in a book!" He paused. "...That's… if he's the kind I'm thinking of-"

Galacta Knight's feathers bristled.

"Put. That. Down," The lord said pointedly, his form straightening emphatically to a rigid, authoritative stance.

"N-No!" Meta clutched it nearer, his mouth set in almost a pout. "I like him!"

"There is nothing likable about slimy little leeches-"

"He isn't a leech! He's got legs, Dad!" Meta insisted, sounding exasperated.

Galacta Knight froze. Hesitated slightly in confusion and, against his better judgment, peered a bit closer.

…Well. All right. So there were tiny legs attached to the thing. Regardless-

"I don't care if it's a worm with legs-"

"A salamander," Meta said emphatically, looking almost offended by proxy for the nasty beast.

"-It is disgusting, and you are putting it back where it came from."

Salamanders.

Galacta Knight had very little use for salamanders.

Especially salamanders this horrible.

This salamander was the longest, slipperiest, most terrible salamander he had probably ever seen in his tens of millennia of life.

It was without a doubt The Worst Salamander.

…But Meta loved salamanders. Which certainly explained all the smiling-

…Great Stars above, was he petting that thing?

Galacta Knight felt his lip twist in disgust as Meta trailed one finger softly over the tiny head, as if it was something as innocent and loveable as a chick.

And the demon held still and let him. As if it was actually enjoying it.

And then Meta looked at him. And then he smiled.

This was not the mere happy smile he'd been wearing since he found the creepy thing. Oh no. This was The Smile.

As soon as he saw it, Galacta Knight was decidedly not smiling.

"...No." He said stiffly. Because he knew, he knew-

Meta smiled more.

"Absolutely not."

Galacta Knight swore Meta's eyes shimmered. Swore they twinkled with just a tiny hint of blue, despite the fact that he was still too young for his eyes to change.

"Meta. You are not bringing that slimy worm-thing into my house."

If anything, the smile grew.

"No." Galacta Knight said.

As if on cue, the orange-red menace that had been sitting so still suddenly writhed a figure eight in Meta's hands, (making Galacta Knight's skin crawl), prompting him to carefully rearrange it so it wouldn't escape back to the abyss like Galacta Knight wished it might.

"Meta," The lord pressed, voice authoritative, head angled so his horns gleamed threateningly.

Meta was smiling at him again.

"I like him," Meta said, eyes bright.

"That is not coming home," He said sternly, the fluff rising on his shoulders.

"Please?"

"No. Put it back underneath whatever rock it crawled up from, and let's go. You are not bringing home more little water monsters." Galacta Knight felt his hackles still bristling, and he let them.

"He isn't a monster!" Meta argued.

"You don't even know it's a 'him'."

"Yes I do," Meta said sagely, "I looked under his tail."

For a moment Galacta Knight stared at him wordlessly, and his feathers fell flat in disbelief.

"...W-Well I did. I… didn't wanna… call him the wrong thing," The little puff stammered defensively, his spots blipping gently into being. "That wouldn't be nice."

Quite literally shaking that off, the lord sighed irritatedly.

"Well, you aren't going to call it anything, because you are going to put it back in the river where it belongs, and it is going to swim far away, and we will never have to see it again." Galacta Knight said, crossing his arms.

The pouty expression was back.

"No. I'm gonna take care of him."

"You are not bringing slimy things into my house," Came the firm reply.

"He can't hurt us! He's nice," Meta insisted, holding the thing closer as it curled up tamely in his hands, as if to spite his father directly.

"There will be. Nothing. Slimy. In my house."

"...Technically, Dad," Meta stood a bit straighter, "It's mucus. Not slime."

Mucus.

If there was one thing found in the natural world that Galacta Knight really did not have a use for whatsoever at all, it was mucus-

"Well, Meta, your disgusting little creature is going right back where it came from, or, I am going to make sure it dries up in the sun." He stated despite his son's look of utter dismay, "No matter what it is, or what it's covered in."

"But-!"

The expression in the masked knight's eyes left little room for argument.

Very slowly, Meta's folded wings drooped towards the ground.

He looked down at the salamander, who was staring up at him with what he was certain was intelligence in its pretty gold eyes, and slowly he watched as it uncurled the length of its body and began to crawl its way up his wrist.

Galacta Knight stared blankly as the miniscule monster marched its way up his son's arm.

Meta was smiling again.

That genuine, happy smile. The one that Galacta would have stuck to his face for the rest of eternity if it were in his power to make it so.

Something settled rather uncomfortably in his stomach.

And Meta, ever intuitive, glanced up and noticed.

"...He's really very small," The puff said after they had stared at each other in silence for several moments; Galacta Knight still as a statue, Meta gently placing the little thing back in his palm and running over its spine with his thumb, "He won't take up much room. And he won't get too much bigger."

The creature was certainly not "very small"; the damn thing was nearly as long as Meta's arm when it wasn't curled up-

But Galacta Knight said nothing.

"And he won't eat much," Meta continued, "And he's gonna eat the stuff you don't like, anyway! Worms, bugs…" He glanced down at the animal. "...Other salamanders-"

Galacta Knight blinked.

There were plenty of unflattering things to be said about toxic slime monsters, and probably even more to be said about cannibalistic ones, but.

But.

Some small part of his brain briefly entertained the idea that keeping the gross thing solely to hunt down and devour other gross things- Other members of its own gross kind, was vaguely entertaining. Vaguely.

"-And he's friendly!" Meta finished brightly.

Free disposal of nastiness, (Which seemed suspiciously like a point in the animal's favor that Galacta Knight had not been prepared to give it), aside, he was quite sure that "friendliness" was still up for debate-

…Though Meta was still petting it. And it still seemed to enjoy it.

Then Meta looked back up at his father. And a teeny, tiny, hopeful little smile crossed his lips.

"...Why is it," The old lord began, sounding really rather disappointed, "That you must always fall in love with something slimy and horrible?"

Meta maintained the tiny hopeful smile.

"...This is even worse than the fish," His father continued.

"You said Ghost was pretty!" Meta countered.

The salamander slithered around his hands. Galacta Knight glared at it.

"...I suppose Ghost was… tolerable." He replied brusquely.

"You said he was pretty," Meta muttered under his breath, grinning.

"Well, now I take it back."

"Hey!" Meta chirped. "Just because he wasn't a bird and you only like birds-"

"I do like birds. You know I'd be perfectly accepting of you bringing any birds home," The knight replied, deliberately not thinking about the time Meta had brought home a large predatory hawk that was even larger than he was, "And yet you insist on collecting these nasty little hellspawns-"

"Dad! You'll hurt his feelings!"

"Toxic slime monsters do not have feelings."

"Salamanders do!" Meta piped up, wings rousing.

The salamander wriggled. It coiled around itself like a damp serpent in Meta's hands, before settling again; its creepy face pointed directly at Galacta Knight so that he was able to notice a peppery spattering of black and white around its nasty little lips and on its nasty little throat-

He blinked at it.

The salamander's beady golden eyes blinked back.

Galacta Knight frowned.

…But Meta was still smiling that cursed little smile. The Smile.

Pleading, in any way, shape, or form, had not been effective against Galacta Knight for as long as he'd been living, (Which was quite a while); and he could have asked any of the knights who'd nearly begged him for mercy in battle at that point to prove it, if he had wanted to.

(And there were a lot of those. It almost made him laugh.)

But this wasn't a pleading smile his son bore. Merely a happy one.

One that he had seen far too rarely, and was almost prepared to suffer the unholy injustices of salamanders for. Even salamanders in his house.

Almost.

But he was putting his foot down somewhere, and no matter what his spawn had to say on the matter, there was absolutely no way in the void that Lord Galacta Knight could abide by salamanders in his house.

So. Meta would not, in fact, be bringing that salamander home.

... ... ... ... ...

Some time later, two sets of footsteps traipsed quietly over leaves and moss, and around fallen logs, as two Batamon made their way through the dense, green forest.

One was a rather large Batamon. The other, exceptionally small.

One looked rather grumpy. The other, exceptionally pleased.

One carried a concerningly sharp lance.

The other held a small glass jar with a salamander inside it.

"...Meta." Galacta Knight spoke up as they walked.

His son looked up at him dutifully.

"Are you… quite certain… that you cannot possibly live without the presence of this vile slime-wraith?" He demanded flatly.

Meta positively grinned.

And Galacta Knight was forced to take that as a 'yes'. Which was a little disappointing, but not at all surprising, especially considering they'd been walking home with the gross thing for close to fifteen minutes at that point.

"...What precisely will you put it in?" He asked, eyeing his son.

"We can find something for him tonight, and then tomorrow, we'll make him something nice, out of glass. And set it all up. You know; with moss and stuff."

Meta seemed perfectly confident as he said it, though his focus was entirely on the slender, slippery form currently curled up in a jar, staring intently at him as he walked.

Walked. Because Meta wouldn't let them fly because "Maybe salamanders are scared of heights".

And Galacta wouldn't let them teleport because no way in hell was that thing allowed in his cape or otherwise anywhere near his person.

So walking it was. How very unpleasant.

Though not as unpleasant as when the vermin elected to look over at him rather than his son.

Which it was doing now.

Galacta Knight eyed it carefully.

While it was… contained, this was the gaze of a creature up to absolutely no good, and he did not trust it.

Meta glanced slyly at his father, a tricky sort of smirk creeping over his lips, and with no warning at all, he darted the jar closer to his face.

Galacta Knight jumped, wings fluttering.

Meta burst into a fit of snickers, and his father scowled.

"Meta-" The lord growled, his lance twitching out of habit, eyes flickering orange and scarlet.

"Are you scared of him?" The little one demanded, grinning in absolute mirth.

"I am scared of nothing," Galacta Knight flared, eyes alight in annoyance, and he reached his nearest wing towards his son; the hooked claw springing forward and flicking him off the forehead.

"Ah! Hey!"

Mischievously, Meta nipped at him, catching a mouthful of feathers for a moment before letting him go, and Galacta Knight couldn't force back an amused hum; rosy pink playing over his eyes for just a spell.

He cuffed the little one with his wing in something between a nudge and a pat; forceful as all his actions tended to be, yet affectionate all the same.

Almost enough for him to forget the little hell-serpent still staring at him from within the jar. Almost. Not quite.

"...What should I name him?" Meta asked suddenly, cutting off any impolite comments he'd been about to make.

"Demons don't need names." Was the automatic reply, accompanied by a fairly impressive eye-roll.

"Salamanders do."

"I doubt that rather severely."

"...Maybe I'll name him Demon."

Galacta Knight raised an eyebrow beneath his mask.

"Well, he's the right color." Meta said brightly. "Even if he's really too nice."

"I see nothing nice about him. Now where exactly is he going to live?" Galacta Knight side-eyed the little jar, trying to imagine where in his home he might be forced to encounter the tiny monster and be something like okay with it.

"...In the bedroom?" Meta chirped hopefully, his eyes gleaming.

"Absolutely not-"

"Aww… Don't you want him to watch us while we sleep?" Meta pleaded.

His father stared at him.

"...I'm just kidding!"

"If you push your luck, son, that thing is going straight back to hell." The knight rumbled.

Meta clutched the jar a little closer, protectively, but his expression was more playful than anything.

"Dad, that isn't nice," Meta pointed out smugly.

"Neither is your pet." The knight spat, wings twitching like the very thought of this whole scenario made him itch.

"Do you really think he's creepy?" Meta peered at the creature, smiling thoughtfully.

"I really think he's despicable."

"I think you like him." Meta purred.

Galacta Knight slowly glared at his little son. Who was quite immune.

"Well if you didn't, you wouldn't have said yes," Meta said brightly.

"I never said "yes", I merely didn't say "no"," Came the huffy response. "And it's entirely possible that if you keep patronizing me, I will change my mind." Galacta Knight leaned in almost menacingly, his voice lowering in emphasis.

"No you won't," Meta said happily, completely ignoring his father in favor of watching the salamander crawl up the glass to rest one tiny hand against where his thumb was touching it.

Galacta Knight watched them both dubiously.

"...I suppose," He said after a minute or two, "That provided I never wake up to discover it sitting on my person-"

"So I'm not allowed to let him crawl on your face while you're asleep," Meta stated sagely, as if making a mental note.

"-Then I can tolerate its presence."

Meta, looking away from the salamander and back up at his father, genuinely beamed; his little mouth falling open in absolute delight, the pointy tip of one fang visible. It reminded Galacta Knight of a smiling kitten, and against his will, a thrumming sort of purr bubbled up in his own throat, the sudden emotion threatening his eyes to tint with blue.

Meta purred back; a much softer, almost airy sound, but full of joy.

Then he darted closer for a hug, snuggling under the fluff of Galacta's wing, and with a sort of chuckle, the lord tucked the feathery around him, pulling him close.

He was very aware of the presence of the jar, but, stealing it a quick glance, confirmed it was tightly sealed, and no matter how it stared at him, the little worm couldn't escape.

Pulling back as quickly as he'd pounced, Meta grinned at him.

"...Sooooo. Wanna pet him?"

"Absolutely not-"

"Dad!"

"No."

"Stop running away!" Meta laughed, hurrying up as his father walked faster towards their home.

"I am never touching that thing."

"What if I ask nicely?"

"No."

"I'll train extra!"

"Never."

"Please?"

"If that thing tries to touch me, I'm squishing it."

"He can hear you!"

"How do you even know it has ears?"

"Oh my Stars, Dad-"

In the jar, despite their bickering, the salamander coiled up neatly. If Meta had been looking at it, he might have seen a smile.

Well guys. This one's a wrap. If you made it here, thank you for reading! ^^
As usual this is un-beta'd, and also as usual, my tastes might be a little... idk odd I guess lol
I'm not expecting this ficlet to be everyone's cup of tea, but I hope that if you made it this far you got something out of it XD Maybe even thought it was cute.

Anyhow, thanks for showing up, and I hope I'll be back soon! ^^
At least sooner than another two years X'D That'll be my goal!