What is poppin folks. Trying something new to practice the ol writing muscle, its a new story lol. Do be warned, it is going to be like essentially all slice of life so if you don't like that you probably won't like this tbh. Trigger warnings, 8 year old Cinder and her new dad who is totally not Jaune.
There was much for Cinder to get used to, a recent change in habitation was to blame for that, or more specifically her recent adoption could be blamed for the necessity of new habits. It was out of the blue, but not even remotely unpleasant. Her new "father" was a tall mountain of a man, blonde hair thick on his hair but in the early stages of going from well-kept to charmingly disheveled. His attire was also something of interest, Cinder always had an eye for the outfits of those that had arrived at the hotel, and the man calling himself father was dressed in an outfit that would have been more at home in the middle of the desert.
Cinder hadn't inquired about it, but had in fact overheard a policeman ask the very same question she had in her head. Apparently, her new father hailed from Vacuo, and the clothing of the desert nation, or perhaps just the fashion that her father had, seemed to do very well in Atlas. He hadn't been Cinder's father at the time, but the man who was clearly a huntsman, if not given away by the armor incorporated into the clothing he wore the large sheathed sword on his back would have been the biggest indicator. It was only through a surprisingly short period of time that her father was able to adopt her, from what she had understood it was facilitated by the fact that she had unlocked her aura, that her father was willing to adopt her, and that he had employment under the SDC.
It had been a blur, going from living under the horrible control of Cinder's previous stepmother and her daughters, to then being under the careful azure eyes and soft care of her father. Cinder was apprehensive of course, she was a smart girl and knew all sorts of facts about the world that a girl her age probably shouldn't know.
Like how a situation involving a mysterious man like her father should lead to more pain and suffering, not being wrapped in warm clothes and sitting at a dining room table with a cup of cocoa and having her new father sitting next to her making pleasant company.
Cinder took a sip of hot chocolate, thinking deeply about the confusing series of events that had occurred over the past two weeks. As the amber-eyed girl lost herself in her thoughts, a gentle voice startled her out of it.
"Did you hear what I said Cinder?" Her father asked.
The girl took a moment to compose herself, shifting in her seat and absentmindedly enjoying how warm her hands felt wrapped around the cup of hot chocolate, but also trying to think of the best way to respond to avoid any ire.
Laughter spilled from her father's lips, "I'll just repeat myself. What would you like for dinner?"
This is what Cinder meant by the adjustments she needed to get used to, no one had ever asked her that question before. Once again Cinder was deep in thought, thinking about what she wanted for dinner. Out of all the meals and food served at the hotel, she had always wanted to try one of the high-class meals the ladies and gentlemen had ordered. What exactly exuded high class and sophistication?
"Spaghetti," Cinder choose, "The white kind,"
The way she said it must have been funny, because more laughter spilled from her father's lips as a smile stretched across his sun-kissed skin. "Alrighty then young lady, let's go get what we need for your yummy Spaghetti dinner,"
A yummy spaghetti dinner sounded very good to Cinder as she shuffled down from her chair as her father stood up from his. Cinder was rather gangly, but the chairs around the dinner table were tall even for her so she had to stretch a bit to reach the floor. More laughter came from her father, this time it was enough to make her blush, she was sure she didn't look or act that funny.
"You have everything ready to go outside? Hat, gloves, jacket, and boots?" Cinder's father said, miming touching the various parts of the body that each piece of clothing belonged to. This was due to a previous incident of Cinder forgetting her gloves and hat, leaving her ears and fingers very red due to the weather in Atlas.
Cinder nodded, mimicking her father's motions and patting herself to make sure she did in fact have all the correct things on. She rarely took off her coat and gloves if Cinder was being honest, she quite liked being warm even if the house was already pretty toasty. The hat and boots didn't need to be worn inside, but she still had thick socks on courtesy of a past trip to the store they were going to shop at once again.
Their destination was a supermarket. Cinder didn't like the supermarket, too loud and too cold. At least the streets tended to be quiet enough to be bearable, even if they were colder.
Once her father thought they were ready to go, they left the apartment. Cinder's father making sure to lock the door behind them and Cinder alongside her father made their way down the stairs to the small lobby downstairs. One new habit Cinder had acquired was holding the hand of her guardian, even though she was sure she couldn't be hurt due to her newly acquired aura, Cinder's dad still made sure to hold her hand when they walked outside the apartment. She hadn't asked about it yet, and she wasn't sure she would because Cinder didn't particularly mind it.
They reached the bottom of the building fairly fast, they were only on the second floor so the small family didn't need to traverse all the flights of stairs that the apartment complex had to offer. Cinder's father raised the unoccupied hand to wave hello to the receptionist manning the lobby, a cheerful smile on his face as he tended to have.
"Hello Lorry!" Her father said loudly, but not so loudly that Cinder minded.
Lorry the receptionist responded in kind, mirroring the smile her father had, "Hello Mr. Arc! Where are you off to this chilly night?"
"Oh just getting some groceries. And it isn't too chilly is it? Don't want to make Cinder walk through the cold," Cinder's father responded.
"Not chilly by Atlas' standards, and seeing how little Ms. Arc is all bundled up like a snug little button I doubt she'll feel it," Lorry the receptionist said.
A sigh escaped her father, "Well that's good to know, it isn't that long of a walk anyway. Welp, best be on our way!"
"Have a nice walk!"
And with that they went through the doors and into the outside world, Cinder having to resist the urge to hiss at the cold air nipping at her nose and cheeks. Another adjustment that Cinder had made was that she no longer had to tolerate putting up with the cold, so the rare times she was exposed to it she felt quite okay hating the sensation.
Like her father had said, the walk was short. At least for him, with his long legs and wide stride. Cinder was sure she wouldn't mind the walk if it wasn't as cold as it was, and in truth she didn't mind it that much, she just liked not liking it she supposed. The warmth emanating from the hand she held back the cold a surprising amount as well. It wasn't particularly superhuman or supernatural how warm her father's hand was, but his body heat could still be felt in waves even through her thicks wool gloves. Or maybe it was because of the gloves that she felt the warmth so much? Cinder didn't know, she'd have to ask at some point.
As they walked Cinder looked down at the ground lightly covered in snow, making purposeful steps to scuff the snow or stomp down on the snow as if it were to blame for the cold she felt. For a second Cinder could have sworn she heard her father chuckle, but when she went to look down his face was while not lacking a smile, free from laughter. Cinder narrowed her eyes for half a second, gazing with scrutiny to ensure she wasn't being laughed at, before once again looking ahead.
By now she could see the telltale glowing sign of the supermarket peering around the corner they turned, marking the halfway point of their journey. And luckily from her astute observation, the hoard of people surrounding the front entrance that indicated the supermarket would be full and noisy wasn't there, meaning that their visit would be a quiet one. At that realization, Cinder gave a small hum of gratitude to the universe that she wouldn't have to deal with noisy and smelly people.
Well she wouldn't have to deal with them, but she'd have to see her father deal with them, which was essentially the same thing.
Nevertheless, they made their way to the front entrance and entered without obstruction of any kind. The change in temperature, while not as drastic as Cinder would have liked, was still noticeable and appreciated. Then again for a place to be not as cold as the Atlas air… that wasn't a very high bar.
Brightly colored magazines and their covers that held pictures of what she could only assume were celebrities caught her attention, one of them in particular Cinder was sure had the logo of the hotel she was previously raised in. But they moved on from the front before Cinder could more closely examine that magazine. Instead they made their way to the vegetable and fruit section, much to Cinder's confusion.
"Aren't we getting things for spaghetti? Why do we need-" As if on cue to interrupt her, there was a spray of mist from the open refrigerators that held the vegetables. To evade having her face hit with mist that would surely be far too cold for Cinder's liking, she turned and pushed her face into her father's hip. This earned her a pat on the head from the hand she wasn't holding, as well as what was most definitely a laugh. No, she wasn't pouting.
"Well good spaghetti needs more than just noodles Cinder, good spaghetti means you have to make the sauce. But don't worry, white spaghetti doesn't need a whole lot of green stuff so we'll be out of here in a bit," her father answered, grabbing a clump of green leafy stuff that Cinder didn't know the name of before putting it in a bag and placing that bag in their small cart they had picked up in the front of the store.
They moved on quickly from there, getting butter and cheese and other ingredients that Cinder quickly lost interest in keeping track of when the alternative could be looking around the store.
To her surprise, they eventually made their way to the toy section.
"You've been a very good girl Cinder, grab a toy as a reward," her father said, a warm smile on his face as he temporarily let go of her hand to let her wander the single aisle.
Cinder had never had a toy before, she had gotten the idea of stealing a doll or two from her previous stepsisters, but the fear of the electric shocks from being discovered far outweighed any passing whim she had. This reminder of her previous housing situation made Cinder rub the outside of her coat around where the necklace would have been. A faint shuttering could be heard, causing Cinder's head to snap up to look at the source, but once she only saw her father holding a scroll she went back to browsing the toys.
She had decided that she didn't want dolls, Cinder was above playing with such childish things she haughtily declared to no one but herself in the comfort of her own head. Instead, she'd choose the obviously more mature choice of plaything, that being an oven one could cook pink mini-cupcakes in. Once secure in her choice, Cinder hoisted the box that held her oven in her arms and waddled over the cart, slightly over-encumbered by the toy's weight. Nevertheless, she carefully placed it aside the groceries under the watchful eye of her father.
The toy oven would be a new but welcome addition to Cinder's new room. She had already filled her closet with clothes and shoes thanks to her father taking her to the mall, but now she would have something else to do than lie in bed and wait to be called to eat. Except that the more Cinder thought of it, the less it made sense to put the small oven in her room. Cinder decided that she'd put it on the somewhat barren kitchen counter to have easy access to cupcakes should she want to make them.
Her father pushed their cart with one hand and Cinder back to the front of the store to pay for everything. A flash of a credit card that necessitated letting go of Cinder's hand to grab at his wallet was all that was needed to pay. The cashier bagged all they had bought into two bags, with Cinder's newest oven standing aside being too large to fit in a box. Her father grabbed the two bags in one hand and lugged the box over his shoulder with ease, one side being preoccupied with holding all their recently acquired groceries and the other holding Cinder's hand.
It was impressive how easily Cinder's father had managed to easily grab everything in one hand and hold her hand in the other, but she supposed all fathers were supposed to be this impressive so Cinder didn't question it that much, merely appreciated the fact that she had been bought something and she didn't have to carry it back. The return trip to their apartment went by faster than their trip to the supermarket for some reason, maybe it had something to do with the smile Cinder had as she imagined playing with her newly bought oven.
A small wave, this time from Cinder due to the fact that both her father's hands were occupied was aimed at Lorry the receptionist. It was only fair that she continued the habits her father had while taking up the hand he would have used to wave otherwise, regardless of the coos that came from Lorry the receptionist's lips and the blush it gave her.
Once again Cinder's father laughed at her, his laugh cut short by the expression that totally wasn't a pout aimed at him which made him go from laughing to merely smiling.
"I'm not laughing at you Cinder, I just find you very cute," Her father said to abate Cinder's ire.
A small mumble of "I'm not cute," left Cinder's mouth as she kicked her feet slightly in embarrassment.
This time they took the elevator, which made Cinder question why they hadn't taken the elevator in the first place. Cinder gathered the courage and desire to voice the question aloud.
"Well it's good to stretch your legs, you're a bit cooped up right now being stuck in the apartment since the school I'm enrolling you in doesn't accept new students until the new semester. Meaning you have three whole weeks of nothing but staying at home, I have the chance to move around a bit with my job, but I have to make sure you get the chance to move around too,"
Cinder nodded at the explanation, just glad there was an explanation of reasoning, rather than it just being a case of "cause I say so".
The elevator opened its doors with the slightest hiss, allowing Cinder and her father to make their way to their front door.
Cinder's father let the box and bag of groceries down, reaching into his pocket to fish out the keys and opening the door with a small click. He then reached down and scooped up the box and grocery bags with ease, leading Cinder back into the apartment. The small girl knew the drill by now, she kicked off her boots and put them in the little cubby next to where her father would put his much larger boots. She then made her way to the kitchen which also served as their dining room and waited for her father to place the groceries so she could help put them away.
"No point in putting these away now, I'm going to be using them. Just open up your toy and play while I make dinner," said Cinder's father.
The young girl was more than happy to oblige, unboxing her toy oven with the help of scissors she acquired from a drawer. To Cinder's disappointment, it needed dust batteries, something she didn't know where to get without asking her father.
"The oven needs batteries," Cinder claimed, harmlessly tugging at the hem of her father's shirt. He gave a small hum and looked up from cutting up herbs and simultaneously stirring something in a pot that Cinder wasn't tall enough to see into. Cinder's father turned around and patted her head as he made his way to the fridge, reaching to the top and grabbing a pack of batteries.
"Here you go," her father said, "Do you want me to open them?"
"I'm okay," Cinder said, grabbing the batteries and making her way back to the oven.
Once she has acquired the batteries Cinder sat cross-legged in the small living room area they had. Cinder had read on the box that batteries were needed, but then found out that she needed a screwdriver to open the panel on the back of the oven. So back to her father Cinder went, again tugging on the hem of his shirt and telling him what was going on. This time he instead used the tip of a knife obtained from a drawer as a makeshift screwdriver to open up the battery compartment. Now open it was just a matter of shoving the batteries in to get it to work.
Cinder did this, grabbing two batteries and slotting them in with a nice click that indicated they fit. Leaving the panel open Cinder turned the oven so the front would face her, making it so she could turn the nobs, press the buttons, and see the dull light of the clock the oven had. Except the clock wasn't glowing, and the nobs weren't doing anything to turn the oven on.
"Its not working!" Cinder exclaimed with frustration.
The sound of a pot being put on the stove could be heard from the living room, followed by a "Give me a second!" from Cinder's father in a jovial tone.
The raven-haired girl sat waiting in front of her toy oven, glaring daggers at its inert form, accusations of betrayal thick in the air. Said glaring was interrupted by the arrival of Cinder's father, who kneeled beside her to see what the issue was.
"It doesn't work," Cinder mumbled again.
Her father gave a small hum of acknowledgment, before turning around the oven to look at the open panel that held the dust-batteries. There was a small noise of him clicking his tongue, before he took out both batteries and put them back in, this time in a different way than how Cinder had jammed them in.
Her father chuckled at Cinder's confused face, "The batteries weren't put in right. The positive end, the part that's not smooth, needs to slot in here," he said as he pointed at a little groove in the compartment, "and the other battery needs to slot in here," he said pointing at the other little groove. A wide smile filled his face when Cinder nodded along in understanding, in turn making her blush at the sudden attention and warmth emanating from her father in embarrassment. The fact that her father then patted her head as he got up making Cinder unreasonably happy in her opinion, but she's come to expect these kinds of situations from living with her father. Her father was probably the best dad around after all, having saved Cinder from the hotel and her ex-stepmother.
Shaking herself out of reminiscing about the past Cinder went to mess around with the oven, clicking and turning the nobs and seeing what everything did before being called into the kitchen by her father. "Help me set the table," he said with his back turned, still focused on whatever was happening on the stove. But by now Cinder knew what to do, and got to work in an efficient way, or as efficient as an eight-ish year old child could be. It wasn't that much all things considered, it was just the two of them so Cinder was really just doing the bare minimum compared to what her father did. Cooking was hard work, especially when it tasted as good as the dinners her father makes. On the subject of dinner, once he had seen that the table was set Cinder's father went to place their plates. And a smell previously hidden by distance and unfocus hit Cinder like a raging goliath, a creamy and delicious smell that filled the air with warmth and the promise of yummy goodness. With a watering mouth Cinder went to sit down.
"Did you wash your hands?" Her father asked with a pointed look, making her change her course and quickly wash her hands. It was a quick affair, but not as quick as it could have been due to the eyes of her father being placed on Cinder. Meaning she couldn't cheat and had to wash her hands thoroughly. Once finished Cinder shook her hands fiercely to get rid of any excess water in the air, getting a few strands of hair in her face due to the motion. After that she used her jacket as a towel and rubbed her hands on it, finally being done and being able to jump into her seat with great anticipation for her spaghetti dinner.
Before her was a plate piled with thin noodles covered in a creamy sauce. It also had mushrooms and specks of herbs that made it look exactly like a dish served in the dining hall of the hotel.
"It looks so fancy," Cinder gasped, grabbing a fork and beginning to dig in.
Her father let out a short bark of a laugh, "I'll teach you how to make it later. So what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"Cupcakes," Cinder stated with the sureness only a small child could have when making plans. "Want to make cupcakes,"
"Then cupcakes we shall bake. We have flour, eggs, oil, and milk, we'll probably just need to ask our neighbors if they have vanilla extract or chocolate chips depending on what kind of cupcakes we want. And we might even find out if they have kids your age for you to be friends with, do you want to make friends Cinder?"
She shrugged, "Sure, I can show them my oven,"
"That'll be fun. How do you feel about the weather, I know it's getting colder,"
"It's cold and I don't like the cold, but it's okay if I wear all my stuff," Cinder stated in-between bites of pasta, her bites being big enough that the sauce was getting on her cheeks.
Her father grabbed a few napkins from the middle of the table, before leaning over and wiping Cinder's face, "Swallow before you talk Cinder,". Cinder nodded, her brows furrowing slightly as she made an effort to chew well and swallow completely.
"Can I watch TV after?" Asked Cinder, being close to done with her food.
Cinder's father took a sip of his water, "You can, you just have to do something for me real quick beforehand,". This caused Cinder to perk up obviously, her father had never asked for much so she was curious.
"It's just a small paper to see how much you know about reading and writing, there are others about math, science, and history but we can do those some other days. We don't have to do everything all at once right?" Cinder's father asked, but he asked it in a way that it was clear that Cinder should agree with him. So she did.
"Okay I'm done," Cinder claimed, showing that the plate was now clear of spaghetti.
A whistle came from her father's lips, "That plate couldn't be cleaner if you licked it, good job Cinder you're gonna grow big and strong with all the nutrients you're getting,"
"Can I lick it!" Asked Cinder excitedly, she'd never been able to do that beforehand. That kind of thing had been deemed gross and unladylike and she would have been punished if she even thought of licking a plate.
"Ha, of course Cinder. It's your plate and your food, just make sure to put it in the sink afterward," Her father said. Then being witness to Cinder licking the creamy sauce clean off the plate, her face home to a small grin of satisfaction. He finished around the same time, so he stood up and collected both their plates and disregarding his own comment about having Cinder put her plate in the sink. Instead opting to leave her sitting down so he could go to his room.
Cinder could hear a bit of ruffling and the sounds of papers rustling before her father came out of his room with a piece of paper and a pencil. He strode across to her, placing the paper and pencil in front of her.
"This is what I meant, just try your best please. It'll help your future teachers know what you know and what you don't, that way they can help you out the best they can," said her father.
Cinder looked down at the paper, she had gone to school before but only for a bit before being pulled out for some reason. Probably so she could work at the hotel more, so she knew what school was and the basic. The questions were also pretty easy, they were simple questions like "what are all the ABCs," and "which symbol is a question mark,". Cinder found it intuitive the way the words and sentences worked, and once finished she handed over the paper and pencil to her father.
Looking down at Cinder's expectant face her father smiled, "Good job Cinder, you are free to watch TV. You have an hour till you need to start getting ready for bedtime," With those words being spoken Cinder scampered off to sit in front of the TV, hands already hitting the sequence of buttons that would get her the cartoon channel. The sound of the couch behind her shifting told her her father was sitting down in the living room as well, but she didn't mind nor care too much. Being too entranced in the show of magical huntresses in front of her. Eventually, the commercials came on and while the first was eye-catching about a flying doll the next was about some kind of sand that looked really boring, so Cinder looked over to see what her father was doing. He had a few papers in hand, not the one she had handed to him but rather three pieces of paper and a pen in hand. His face was beginning to grow a beard. Cinder wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she assumed that all good dads were supposed to have impressive facial hair, so it'd only make sense for her father to also have a good beard.
Before Cinder's theories about beards and dads could get any further, she was distracted once again by the telltale jingle of the show she was watching. And once again her attention was absorbed by the TV. Before she knew it she had watched three whole episodes, which in her opinion was very good because previously Cinder would have been lucky to get a sneak peek of a single scene before being tattled on and forced to get back to work.
"Time to get ready for bed Cinder," the voice on the couch said, rousing Cinder from her sitting position and making her stretch with a yawn. Cinder wouldn't say no to going to sleep, so with a sleepy expression Cinder made her way to her room with her father trailing behind. Taking off the jacket she had been wearing all this time Cinder placed it on her bed, turning to find that her father had already gotten out her pajamas and towel. She took both and went to the bathroom.
"Make sure to not use all the hot water, I don't want you getting a cold," Cinder's father said, signaling that Cinder could shower. Showering was warm and nice, but Cinder made sure too not to enjoy the water too much. She wouldn't want to risk getting cold from having the hot water run out, and her pjs were plenty warm enough. Getting out after turning the water off, Cinder dried herself with her fluffy red towel and slid into her pjs. Turning to look into the mirror, she couldn't see her reflection because of the condensation but decided to make a little smiley face in the mirror before opening the door and heading to bed.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" A voice called out from the living room, causing Cinder to spin on her heel and head right back into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Luckily she didn't mind it, and got to stare at the smiley face she drew while she brushed her teeth.
Now Cinder got to go to bed, snuggling nice and warm into her blankets and being whisked away to sleep by the lull the warmness around her, and the pressure of a kiss being placed on her head.
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Somewhere in a mining village owned by the SDC near Mantel, but not near enough to take advantage of its infrastructure, lay a small red-headed faunus boy. He laid on a rickety mattress with a too-thin blanket, a pair of horns being the only thing that peeked from his curled and slightly shivering form.
Wow that is totally not Adam. If you can't tell this is a story that involved Jaune being a dad, you guys can discover the specifics of the how and why later, just know that this story is gonna be me trying my best to write cute stuff. Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed this first chapter, fairly certain its better than my other first chapter lmao. (Also this story was inspired by Relic of The Future by Coeur Al'Aran, so if you've read that you kinda know whats poppin n stuff)
Yours truly, the worlds worst fanfic writing cowboy