Toivo and Little My had been playing near the river since the child refused to go to bed until she saw her Papa.
Little My also agreed to watch her as a vowel renewal gift to Moominmama and Moominpapa. Little My was exhausted, but refused to leave the kid alone, even as she knew it had to be early morning, maybe 2 or 3AM.
"So…what are you anyway? You don't look like a Murmrik." My spoke, looking at Toivo who seemed to be messing with something under the water.
Toivo looked over, her eyes wide to better see in the dark, looking quizzically. "Papa calls me a Siren. He's really protective of me, though."
My muttered to herself. She was confused. Snufkin? Protective? If she wasn't so tired, Little My would laugh. She also knew that Sirens were extinct so there was no way of this kid being one. Snufkin had some explaining to do. 'Damn lazy prick.' My thought.
"Why don't you go to bed?" She crossed her arms.
"Not until Papa comes back. I have to make sure he's okay." She then continued her exploring.
"Stubborn!" My complained. "What are you so worried for?"
Toivo ignored her at first, then she walked over and sat next to My. "That Moomin won't hurt Papa right?" She fiddled with a small pebble.
My looked the kid up and down. "You're just like that damn Moomin. Always worrying over Snufkin."
"Hey! Language! And how am I like that scary Moomin? You also didn't answer my question." She pouted.
Little My gave her an exasperated look. "Really? You're gonna call me out on language? I'm an adult, you're a child, mind your business."
Toivo went to argue back, but stopped and sniffed the air, jumping up and looking behind them. "Papa! Papa!" She ran towards where Moomin was carrying Snufkin.
Little My followed close behind, noticing how limp Snufkin was. "He okay?"
Moomin smiled, letting out a shush noise. "He fell asleep on the way down. I don't want to wake him."
"How the fuck can he be asleep?" My asked, a brow raised.
"Language!" Toivo scolded, trying to see if her Papa was really okay. "His tent is over here-oh, his leg! Ohhh…Papa had that before I was born. Silly Papa." She reached up and pet his tail.
Moomin seemed to observe the child before heading to Snufkin's tent, it being placed close to Moominmama's garden at the side of Moominhouse, much closer than it's ever been placed, trying his best not to jostle the sleeping Murmrik. Toivo observed from the tent opening, watching the Moomin closely. Little My found it strange how Moomin and the child acted around each other.
Moomin gave Snufkin a lingering Moomin kiss on his forehead, handling the Murmrik as if he were fragile. Once Moomin left the tent, Toivo entered, deciding to sleep with Snufkin instead of her own tent. My saw Moomin observe for a bit longer, his mind working, though she had no idea what it was he was thinking about. Only when he shut the tent and began to walk back towards the boat, did Little My follow.
"What're you thinking?" She asked, knowing they were far enough from prying ears.
"Just how long to stay before where to go next. I found Snufkin, but my work isn't done. I wouldn't have made a crew and traveled by sea if finding Snufkin was the only plan." Moomin explained, heading towards their ship, where the crew was most likely sleeping, until he stopped near the ramp, one foot on the wood.
"Where are you going?" Little My asked, seeing Moomin didn't continue up the ramp. "You've gotta be tired."
Moomintroll's ears flickered about before he sighed and began walking away. "I'm just burning off some pent energy. I doubt you want to hear me gush about Snufkin." He grinned rottenly to her.
She made a face, gagging. "Gross."
Moomin chuckled before he spaced off for a moment. "Snufkin is known to be an early riser. Thanks for keeping an eye on his whelp while we spoke, by the way." Moomin waved to her, walking passed towards a rockier area far off.
"Did you find out if it was another Woodie situation?" She asked, curious out of her wits since she hoped Snufkin hadn't moved on during their time apart, but also cautious of how calm and collected Moomin was acting. It was a Moominmama level calm, but without the sweetness.
Moomin shook his head. "We didn't talk about his kid, but I doubt it was a Woodie situation. She looks far too much like him and acts far too much like you." He snickered.
Little My puffed her cheeks to avoid biting him. "She looks nothing like him, if you didn't notice the scales, and she acts more like you! She was so damn concerned over him the whole time! It should be the parent worried for their child. Snufkin's a big boy, he can take care of himself."
Moomin hummed, thinking again. "I must admit though…seeing his face in such a state was quite adorable."
"Should I even ask what you mean?" Little My groaned.
A grin only she and the crew had seen, crawled its way to his lips and he shrugged, as if what he'd said wasn't an issue.
She put a finger up and went into the ship, leaving Moomin to wonder what she was up to and enjoying her misery, like payback for when he was younger.
"When he finds out what you've turned out like, he's going to hate you. You know that right? You're worse than when you guys were kids." My asked, coming back after grabbing some alcohol from Moomin's quarters.
"Maybe. I don't plan on him finding out though." Moomin side glanced her, the moonlight giving his eyes a glow.
"Snufkin isn't stupid. He's more observant than that, you know. You couldn't even hide how lovesick you are for him, so what makes you think you can hide your sick personality you've developed?" She drank more. 'We've been with Moomin since he left, so how did his personality change so bad? It's worrisome.'
Moomin rolled his eyes, walking back towards the small Mymble. "Yes, but I think I also have learned how to lure him. He's a sneaky catch, but if I know how to, I can do it. Besides…I have had plenty of time to observe what snares him best." Moomin took the bottle she was using and sniffed at it, crinkling his nose.
Little My shivered. "That is the creepiest thing I've ever heard from you. You do realize how you sound right? You sound just like-" she began, the alcohol loosening her tongue, only to stop at his laugh.
"Hmm? Hahaha. Oh, please, Little My…" he sighed, "…I think you underestimate how much I'm still wrapped around his tail. If he wishes it, even if it's for me to leave, I will obey. I will give him his freedom as I always have, less willing when I was young, but still, I would never take that. Part of the allure of Snufkin is how he's just out of reach." He downed the rest of the bottle just so Little My couldn't.
"Hey! I thought you seeing him would put you in a good mood." She glared, more concerned with his petty behavior when upset. "You should've never become a pirate." She grumbled, a part of her having hoped the whole new personality of his was due to becoming a captain and having to adapt and then hoping he'd return to the doofus he was once he saw her stupid brother.
"You shouldn't have tried to hide him from me." Moomin spoke it lightly, but the look he gave was a warning.
Little My froze, a little bit of fear against her spine. "Shit."
"Maybe you're right. I'm not the same Moomin he cared for… which I will admit worries me." He grabbed more from beside her, much to Little My's concern. "I wonder if he's the same Snufkin? Even as he thought I'd died? Either way…my feelings have not changed. Cheers." He began to down the next bottle, walking back towards his original destination.
"Have fun." Little My replied before going off to her quarters, not wanting to deal with Moomin any longer. "Tove have mercy on Snufkin."
The next morning had Moomin working on some things for his ship and his mission that only a few knew about, but not Little My or Sniff, as they'd get in the way.
"Captain. No sign of him in the valley." A crewman walked up to Moomin, who had his jacket over his broad shoulders, some papers and maps out in front of him with bags under his eyes as his sleep didn't come to him. Again.
"Good. Keep a rotation and shifts. I want everyone to enjoy their time on land, but I won't have that damned Murmrik sneaking passed and reaching my treasure." He stood, stretching.
"If you don't mind me asking, what makes you think that Murmrik will be here? We haven't been on land in months." He asked.
"Simple. Where do you think I was last we were on land? I was tracking the albino's whereabouts. An albino deer Murmrik is rare so he'd stand out, especially with how chatty and manipulative he is and word spreads when you listen closely." Moomin gathered the papers, handing it to the crew member. "That's all the supplies we'll need for the next time we set out. There's no rush yet, so all of you enjoy yourselves. Let me know who leaves the valley to go to other towns so I know to wait or send someone to fetch them. It's quite early, but I'm going to visit my parents." He grabbed some gifts he'd purposely gotten his parents during his travels and the simple yet lovely prosthetic he'd made Snufkin, having used his memory and the cast for measurements and wood from a large tree that was cut down, the town he'd gotten it from having a beautiful tale to go with it, then waved goodbye to the Fillyjonk he'd left the instructions to.
With his mind more clear now that he had dealt with the crew and had gotten a dose of his freedom loving treasure the night previously, Moomin had to admit he must've frightened Snufkin. Maybe Little My had been right. Following his train of thought, he also wanted to know who the youngling was from Snufkin's own adorable mouth.
His youngling nibbling his head was what woke Snufkin the next morning, Snufkin still groggy and not having truly processed what happened the night before yet.
"Papa…I'm hungry." Toivo mumbled, lifting herself and rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, as am I. First, coffee, though. Could you fetch some fruit and Papa will be out to help forage? Everyone should still be sleeping so let's surprise Mummo and Morfar with a delicious breakfast." He smiled, loving how Toivotroll lit up with excitement.
"OKAY! Morfar and Mummo will be so happy and full of delicious food!" She yelled, waving at her Papa. "Hurry up, Papa! We got lots of food to hunt!"
Her energy had Snufkin smiling lazily.
Snufkin had been attempting to find something to replace his leg once he had his coffee and he'd spent that time hiding his need to have an embarrassing breakdown until Toivo left, which happened when some other Moominvalley younglings came up to ask her to play, much to his relief.
He stared at the water, touching his lips as the memory played. Why couldn't he just admit it to Moomin now that he knew he was alive and well?
Maybe it was obvious? Maybe he hadn't been stoic enough to hide his feelings all that time when they were younger? No…Moomin was always kind to him so he'd go along with whatever Snufkin wanted. He was just excited to see Snufkin again. There was no way he'd fall for a raggedy vagabond.
Snufkin felt a sharp pain in his chest at the thought. Well…that hurt. He rubbed his chest.
He was being silly.
Right?
Moomin was always sweet and that short time before they were separated again made that fondness grow beyond compare with Moomin being conscious of Snufkin's needs. Snufkin's face felt like it was on fire as last night played over and over in his head, his body reacting strangely.
Luckily, a distraction came a bit later in the form of Moominmama needing help so about an hour later, he was leaned against the counter helping with collecting and separating herbs to dry, liking being able to move around but thinking it a pain to have to use the walking stick to travel across the kitchen and pantry.
Toivotroll had come back earlier than he liked, wanting her to make friends and connections, but there wasn't much he could do as she was her own being.
Toivotroll looked long and hard at her Papa. "When are we leaving?" She asked, seemingly out of the blue, learning how to repair her items by looking at Snufkin's.
"Hm? Well…I guess I didn't think about it. When I was a youngling, I'd stay from Spring to Fall. But it's different now…" Snufkin explained, his mind beginning to wander, his heart warming at the memories of the first day of Spring, walking down the path towards the bridge where a bright eyed Moomintroll was running to meet him. He let out a sigh.
Toivotroll wasn't sure what to make of the look on her Papa's face. Did he love this little valley so much? She loved Mummo, Morfar and of course Papa and she'd admit she liked the bugs and little beasts, but to stay so long? She wasn't sure. "But you said it's not good to stay in one place too long." She brought up, her fire starting tools looking like Snufkin's.
Snufkin nodded. "You will end up growing attached that way." He then frowned, his mind running elsewhere as his body couldn't. 'What am I doing?'
"Oh, please. You always end up here one way or another." Little My came in, carrying jars of freshly packed jams Moominmama must've asked her to bring in. "Especially when it came to your crush, which mind you, you could've stayed away once you realized." She gagged, realizing Snufkin still had been pining hard.
"Little My! Th-that's not true! It's not like-"
"Moomin! Back so early I see. Come here and give your Papa and Mama a proper hug." Moominpapa was loud enough out front with the sun a bit above the hills.
Snufkin froze, fur standing on end as his face began to go red again and heat, so he covered it, not wanting to show his blushing face and Little My began cackling like there were postmen writhing in agony because of her and his child just looked at him thoroughly confused as to why her Papa was getting red when he wasn't sick.
"Like what, Snufkin? Go on." Little My kept laughing.
Snufkin began to sweat. What if Moomin changed his mind and realized what an idiot Snufkin actually was?
"It's fine, Mama, I want to help with anything I can while I'm here and it would be easy to have some of my crew help." Moomin's voice broke through as the Moomin family came in, all smiles.
When Moomin made eye contact with Snufkin and smirked, though, Toivo decided to get in front of Snufkin and glare at Moomin.
"Oh, dear. Looks like for some reason she doesn't like you." Moominmama replied first, used to children's protective nature of their parents.
"Haha, that's true, Mama. Our Moomintroll and his crew did show up out of nowhere and cause a ruckus." Moominpapa laughed it off, thinking it was cute.
"Toivotroll, don't be rude." Snufkin tried, his voice a little strained but his little ones distaste was enough of a distraction from his embarrassment until he glanced up to Moomintroll, his brown eyes meeting the softness of Moomin's, like the night before, full of tenderness. He couldn't stop the blush on his cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Moomin. She isn't usually like this." He averted his eyes, not sure why he was feeling like this now instead of when they were younger.
"It's alright, Snufkin. To her, I'm quite an imposing being. She's only being protective, right?" Moomin smiled to the child, who hissed at him and stood her guard.
"This is fucking hilarious! Hahahaha~! A child who doesn't like Moomin!" Little My couldn't hold her laughter in anymore, liking the kid decided Moomin wasn't worth the sweetness she'd apparently shown to his parents.
"Little My, language!" Snufkin gasped, not thinking as he tried covering Toivotroll's ears, only to have them both topple to the floor.
"Snufkin, floor." Little My retorted before holding her gut as it began to hurt from her laughter.
"Ow, tssss." Snufkin hissed, his good knee knocking against the walking stick which fell with them and his wrists bent weird to stop from crushing Toivo, who tried stabilizing herself as well.
"Are you alright, Snufkin? Miss Toivotroll?" Moomin asked, shooting Little My a glare and helping Snufkin up, who kept a hand on Toivo, effectively pulling them both up.
Little My rolled her eyes, not caring about the warning.
"I'm fine, Moomin. Toivo seems to be fine as-" Snufkin's voice stopped when he felt Moomin lift him into his arms, holding him similarly to last night.
"That's good. I brought you a new leg, like I said I would. Maybe it'll help keep you upright?" Moomin smiled, jolting suddenly though when Moominmama gasped and Moominpapa went to say something, as he felt a sharp pain along his forearm.
When he lifted his arm more, he saw Toivotroll biting as hard as she could into his arm, her claws digging in as well. "Ahh." He let out lightly. It did hurt, quite a bit with it being against muscle, but he was used to scars and Little My would occasionally still bite. "Can you let go?" He asked nicely, still having a solid hold on Snufkin.
"Moomin, put me down, it's fine. Toivo, stop it." Snufkin spoke, trying to get off to no success as Moomin had quite the grip, Snufkin able to feel the muscles put into holding him, his instincts being strange again, hyper aware.
"I'll get her off, dear. Will you need help putting that new leg on?" Moominmama asked, grasping Toivotroll's jaws and prying them off of Moomin's arm, the little beast spitting the blood out and struggling.
"No, I have it, Mama. It's also been awhile since we've properly caught up, huh, Snufkin?" Moomin smiled large, his teeth sharp and white near Snufkin's face where he looked up to Moomin.
Snufkin couldn't speak for a moment, the mouthful of sharp canines muting him temporarily until he shook his head. "I-uh-should properly introduce you and Toivotroll though and we need to take care of the wound and please put me down."
"I believe we did to some extent, didn't we?" He looked to the Siren, ignoring his wound and trying to appease the child.
"If that's the case, she needs to apologize." Snufkin looked to his child, needing to ask her why she's acting out but knew Moomin wouldn't let go until Snufkin had his new leg installed. He sighed. "Just hurry with the leg so I may speak with my youngling. If that's alright with you, Moomin?"
To fight the sweet words he wanted to reply with, or better yet, kiss Snufkin again, Moomin only nodded, bringing Snufkin to the couch and kneeling in front of him.
There was a relative silence as Little My left, wanting some time to herself and Moominpapa and Moominmama took Toivotroll to town to grab a few things.
"How long did you have this thing?" Moomin asked, chuckling at the brittle wood as he began removing the old prosthetic.
Snufkin smiled at the sound. "I think a few months before Toivotroll came into my life. It got infected pretty bad to where I collapsed with a high fever. Luckily there was a doctor in the town I was passing though who was able to operate, but they could only give me this to use , which I was more than grateful for all they'd done. Anyhow, I was due for a new one anyway. I like the one you chose. It's simple, yet beautiful." He held it. It was sturdy, a bit heavy which spoke of its durability, with little details spread throughout, most of it near the top, where it would attach to a Snork-made metal base. The "foot" part was his size too and looked easy to fit into his boots. He had to wonder how Moomin got a hold of one perfect for his size. The knee joint could be maneuvered as well, locking to stay in place or unlocked to bend.
Moomin blushed and smiled like he did when he was younger. "Anything for you, Snufkin." His need to please the Murmrik was strong, fueling his desire.
Snufkin's eyes softened at that, reaching out and brushing his knuckles against Moomin's snout, the other hand he gently laid on Moomin's arm. "Then I'll wrap your wound after, so it's fair. Don't want your fur to dye that color."
Moomin didn't reply, but he did blush deeper, and, once the prosthetic was attached, he traced some of the details lightly. "May I ask you something?" He laid his head on Snufkin's knees, large arms circling Snufkin and practically laying on the floor.
Snufkin's smile was still soft. "After you let me help with that." He placed his hands against Moomin's jaw and lifted, Moomin complying and allowing Snufkin to stand.
It was a comfortable silence as Snufkin helped with the wound his child inflicted. "I do apologize for that, Moomin."
"I'm used to Little My, so it's fine. I don't know why she doesn't like me though." He smiled.
"Hehe, I'm not sure. I didn't think either of you had interacted at all." Snufkin rose a brow at the Moomin.
"Just a few words, really. She wanted me to apologize and I did. And I assured her you were just sleeping when she asked last night." Moon explained.
"That youngling." Snufkin sighed.
"Snufkin?" Moomin asked after more silence.
"Yes, Dove?" Snufkin replied, finishing dressing Moomin's wound.
"When did you take in the youngling?" He finally asked.
"I…" Snufkin paused, unsure how Moomin would take it. Unsure how to explain it. "I…gave "birth" to her."
Snufkin wasn't sure what to do, as Moomin's eyes went a darker shade and he growled, opening his jaws and aiming for his neck.