Something I had sitting in my computer as a writing exercise. I decided to clean it up and put it here.
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The night was still, with hardly even a breeze to disturb the quiet house. The moonlight drizzled through the blinds and streaked across the nursery just shy of reaching the cradle.
A shadow crawled into the room, the formless mass slithering across the soft carpet and up to the feet of the cradle. On one end the shadow formed, and a figure now stared at the small child. It was crouched like a gargoyle, with a long tail-ish drape that dragged to the ground and curled around the crib once. The baby was none the wiser as they peacefully snored the night away.
The shadow reached a claw out to touch the child, spindly talons petting the infant's soft skin. The shadow's single, blue eye seemed so gentle, no trace of malice in their intent.
"You look the part of Boogie Man, even when you're not trying..."
The figure visibly bristled and pulled his hand away. "Do not scare me, Sister."
The voice chuckled, the moonlight in the room reshaping into a woman. Her hair was a deep magenta in color and she wore a garb of cream and pink. "My goodness she looks so much like you; I remember when you were just a small baby..."
"You know how I feel about the past." His tone was quiet, his eye leaving the child briefly to acknowledge his sibling. There was a long pause between the two, the crescent moon spirit coming up quietly to peek at the child. Much to her pleasant surprise he did not guard the baby from her like he did towards other gods.
"...They mean everything to me, you know." He finally said, referring to both the child and the mother.
"Then perhaps you should spend more time with your beloved? I didn't make that pendant for you to just spend most of your time away. You do not need to fear spending just a single night in the arms of your lover – my magic is powerful."
"It isn't that..." His gaze switched between her and the child, "It's hard to look at her sometimes."
She looked to him, then back to the baby "It's because of father, isn't it?"
He didn't answer, which spoke more words than a reply ever could. She placed a hand upon his shoulder, now speaking in that soft, sisterly tone she'd use on him once upon a time, in a time where he was much younger; "You are nothing like him, your daughter is a product of love and passion. Your beloved has given herself to you willingly, and you love her more than the rising stars of the north. You love your daughter more than that even; she is the precious jewel that you swore tainted hands would never touch. You are nothing like your predecessor."
He chuckled bitterly at that, pushing her hand away "It's humorous that he still controls my life, even long after I banished him to the furthest depths of the underworld. Maybe you know I am not like him, but I carry his dark mantle. Most mortals believe I am very same monster."
"But she knows the truth, and right now that is all that matters."
He paused then, his expression unreadable. Then his form unraveled itself, slithering from his perch before reforming into his own human avatar.
A man in all black, with the exception of a red scarf. His white hair gleamed a little in the moonlight, covering one eye, but revealing the other, which never left the small child. "...I will take your advice to heart." He turned to her then, still wearing that hidden expression. "For now, however, leave me be. I wish to spend these peaceful hours with my family."
She smiled a little to him then, before nodding in understanding "Very well little brother, then I bid you a good evening." And like that, she faded away into the night.
The New Moon spirit leaned carefully over the cradle. He smiled at the sleeping child, reaching a hand down to let small hands grasp a single finger…
This was his life now, and he wouldn't have it any other way.