Chapter 12

"Okay, ready Noodle?"

The little boy nodded, going on all fours and crouching low to the floor just like his papa was teaching him. "Alright, keep your eyes on your target and move silently," Fizz said quietly to him.

Oliver carefully crept closer to his target, which was his dad, Ozzy. The rooster was looking at some papers and didn't see his favorite jester nearby and didn't see his son quietly sneaking up on him. Oliver kept his tail low despite wanting to keep it high. Fizz watched proudly as the boy was soon near the rooster and his small tail began wagging slowly, ready to pounce.

The jester saw his son look at him and he smiled, giving him a thumbs up. Taking that as a sign, Oliver gathered himself, ready to spring up. A moment later, he jumped, landing on his dad's shoulder. "Rawr!" He growled.

"AWQUAK!" Ozzy yelped in surprise, falling out of his chair and landing on his back as he quickly caught Oliver to keep him from getting hurt. Fizz burst into laughter, falling to the floor as he was laughing too hard to stand up.

Oliver, proud that he had succeeded, quickly ran off towards his papa, who grinned and the two of them ran off on all fours, tails wagging happily.

Ozzy blinked as he recovered before he smirked. "Oh, that's the game you want to play, eh, Froggie?" He asked before getting down on all fours himself and going on a hunt for his son and favorite jester.

Fizz was cackling up a storm. "That was fantastic, kiddo!" He said. "I'm so proud of you!"

Oliver held his head high, proud to have pranked his dad. He had been working on making growling sounds with the voice therapist, who had encouraged him to do so along with learning more words to speak. She always gave Fizz and Ozzy glowing reviews about the boy.

"He's learning so fast and doing so well," she had said.

"Any hiccups we should be worried about?" Fizz had asked.

"Oh, none at all. Some words are a bit of a struggle since they can be a bit harder to pronounce or have a special pronunciation, but Oliver likes to try the word out on his own to see if he can get it somewhat right. I only step in to help when he asks me if he said the word right."

Ozzy was equally proud of Oliver for doing his best. "It's okay if you stumble a little bit on words, Noodle," he told the boy that night. "What matters is that you don't give up. You're a smart cookie."

Fizz now skidded around the corner as a roar sounded out, shaking Oliver out of his reminiscing as he remembered he and his papa were running from Ozzy. "Oh, man, your dad's on the hunt, Noodle," the jester said, giggling. "Come on, we gotta either hide or keep going."

Oliver continued to run and Fizz followed him, both running down the hallway. Ozzy, having gone another way, was waiting at the end of the hallway, smiling. Just as the two were about to reach him, the rooster being jumped out on all fours, giving a playful growl.

"WHOA!" Fizz cried out, startled as he and Oliver quickly tried to backtrack, but Ozzy pounced, catching both his favorite jester and his son in his arms and they all fell to the floor, the plush carpet cushioning their fall.

"Got you both," the larger being cooed playfully before he began tickling them both, his right hand tickling Oliver's stomach while his left hand tickled Fizz's ribs.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!" Fizz squealed as he squirmed. "OHOHOHOHOHOHZZHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

Oliver giggled and laughed as he tried to escape, but his dad's gentle grip was inescapable. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" Ozzy cooed to them both, making his son squeak adorably and Fizz had tears building up in his eyes. Seeing this, the larger being stopped the tickle torture, letting both the jester and child catch their breaths, gently rubbing Oliver's back and letting Fizz nuzzle his other hand.

The boy smiled as he looked up at his dad. "I can always tell when it's you touching my back or head before I even see you, Dad," he signed.

"You can?" Ozzy asked, curious. "How?"

"Your gloves," the boy signed. "They're made of silk, right?"

"Correct," his dad said with a nod.

"Well, they always feel soft and the way the silk feels against the back of my shirt," Oliver said. "I asked my teacher about it and she said my sense of touch is higher than most to make up for me being deaf. She said because of that, certain fabrics will feel different. She actually demonstrated by pulling out some gloves that were different textures and rubbed them against my shirt sleeves. Some of them felt kind of weird and some felt uncomfortable, which she explained was because my sense of touch was really high. She said that I could use that to identify people I know, especially my family."

"So you can tell when either me or your dad comes up behind you and touches your shoulders or upper back," Fizz said with a nod. "I know the feeling. Though I lost most of my sensation of touch due to an accident years ago, I can tell Ozzy's touch from others, thanks to the big guy helping me out."

Ozzy smiled and he began gently winding Fizz's tail around his fingers. The jester giggled as he did this, but didn't more away, something Oliver noticed and he also noticed that his dad was taking care not to hurt his papa's tail, unwinding it and rewinding it around his large fingers.

The boy moved closer to Fizz, who smiled at him before noticing Oliver looked thoughtful. "What're thinking about, Noodle?" He asked.

"You're letting Dad touch your tail," the boy signed.

Fizz chuckled gently. "Yeah, because I trust him," he said. "You know our tails are really sensitive, right?"

The boy nodded. "We should only let people we completely trust touch our tails," he signed. "That's what my case worker told me, though she said there were some exceptions, like doctors."

"That's true," the jester said with a nod. "To allow someone else to touch our tails is a sign of pure trust, but that trust takes time to build." He paused and shook his head. "Mammon used to grab my tail at times and I never liked it. Asked him to not do that, but yet he still did."

Ozzy nodded. "I finally asked him to stop doing that because the injuries were becoming obvious," he said. "And he didn't want to pay the hospital bills."

Fizz snorted. "I think that was the main reason," he said. "But even so, Oliver, I didn't fully trust Ozzy right away, even after he built my limbs."

"Why not?" The boy asked, looking confused. "Dad's never hurt you, right? Why didn't you trust him when he is obviously nicer than Mammon?"

Ozzy chuckled. "Trust in general, especially deep trust, takes time to build, Noodle," he said gently. "Because Fizz was not in the safest situation while working for Mammon, he was wary of who could come near him. In fact, for a long time, your papa would flinch if he even saw my hand come near him."

The jester nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. "Yet Ozzy never brushed aside my fears. He patiently worked with me on them until I was comfortable around him and I learned I could trust that your dad would never hurt me."

Oliver smiled before looking thoughtful. "Can I tell you guys a secret?" He signed.

"Of course, son," the rooster being said.

"I was actually scared of you for a bit too, Dad."

Fizz was surprised. "You were?" He asked, trying to think back when his son had been afraid of the larger being, but was drawing a blank except for when Oliver had first arrived and Ozzy had revealed he knew sign language. Fizz had figured it had been to break the ice, but now he wondered. "When were you scared of your dad?"

"When I first got here," the boy signed. "I was scared when I first saw Dad coming down the hallway and I wanted to run, but I saw you with him, Papa. I figured you would protect me if anything bad happened."

"What was it about me that you were so scared of, son?" Ozzy asked, his tone gentle so the boy knew he wasn't upset.

"Well, you're really tall, Dad, and...your big form when Papa stood up to Mammon was really scary. I could tell you were really angry at Mammon, but...it made me wonder if anyone with large forms like that would be mean and hurt others."

"Especially since Mammon was like that," Fizz said in realization before scooping his son into a hug. "Oh, Noodle, Ozzy would never, ever hurt you like that. Yeah, he's got a big form if he gets really protective, but he'd never hurt you."

"Your papa's right, Noodle," Ozzy said, gently rubbing the boy's back. "I'd never, ever, hurt you, kiddo."

It was quiet for a moment before the rooster being looked at his son. "By the way, what made you realize that you didn't have to be afraid of me?" He asked the boy.

Oliver smiled. "Well, when you guys showed me my new room and I saw how big it was, that made me start to realize that maybe things would be okay and that I could start to trust you, Dad," he signed. "But these are what made me realize that I could genuinely trust you."

He gestured to his hearing devices before starting to sign again. "When you promised to work on these to help me hear, I at first wondered why, but then you said the final decision was up to me, if I wanted the hearing device or not. You didn't push me to say 'yes' to it and when I said 'yes', you didn't go back on your word."

"I always keep my word, Noodle," Ozzy said. "You never have to worry about me going back on my word or breaking a promise to you."

The boy nodded. "The night you gave me my new hearing device, I knew then I could trust you without a doubt. You and papa even let me stay after a nightmare had scared me."

"Hey, you're our son, kiddo," Fizz said. "Your dad and I wouldn't be good parents if we didn't comfort you after you had nightmares."

Ozzy gently ruffled Oliver's hair. "I promised to take care of you when I first adopted you, Noodle," he said. "Adopting you is something I'll never regret, along with meeting Fizz."

The jester smiled. "Meeting you and adopting Oliver is something I'll never regret either, big guy," he said before looking at Oliver. "No regrets at all."

The boy hugged his papa and felt his dad hug them both. Ozzy then felt something rest against his right hand and saw it was Oliver's tail. The boy nodded to him and wound his tail around his dad's wrist. The rooster being smiled at this, knowing his son was quietly telling him that he fully trusted him and he gently nuzzled the boy's head in fatherly affection, making Oliver giggle happily and Fizz smiled too. "Hey, Oliver, you ever been to a movie theater before?" The jester asked.

The boy perked up. "A couple of times," he signed. "My case worker took me there once when we were waiting for a foster family to pick me up and another time when she let me stay the night before Dad adopted me. There were no foster families to take me in and then Dad called her and I was here after school the next day."

"Well, your dad happens to know the owner of a good movie theater nearby," Fizz said before looking up at Ozzy, who smiled.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Froggie," he said. "Though when we get back, I'm going to need help cleaning up the paperwork you two caused me to drop when someone pounced on me."

Oliver giggled at his dad's playful tone. "I'll help, Dad," he promised.

"After the movie and all the snacks we could ask for," Fizz said, smiling.

Ozzy smiled as he made a call and then carried his favorite jester and his son to the movie theater, teleporting in easily and the staff had everything set up in a heartbeat for the family.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

And yes, the beginning was inspired by "The Lion King" which belongs to Disney.

Also, to be clear, Oliver wrapping his tail around Ozzy's wrist means that he trusts his dad, kind of like how a child holds their parents' hands. It's a sign of trust between a child and a parent.

GoldGuardian2418