Summary: Duncan goes through the five stages of grief in the spawn of 2.6k words :D

Duncan is standing next to his brother one second, feet carrying him nervously toward his huge arm to use it as a shield, because the noises coming out of the cave are creeping him out, and the next he is flying. He is flying really high, really fast, and heading inside the chamber where the creepy noises are coming from just to then start falling. He has no time to try and get his wings out to try and save himself the bonk against the ground, because of all the things to happen, being tossed around by his older brother —the one who had been kind from the beginning, that's what stung the most— was not on his to-do list.

He tries to turn in the air, to at least avoid landing on his face, when a giant shadow engulfs him and he lands on his back on a rough leathery surface. The landing is rough, and he would have rolled over had it not been for tree trunk fingers closing around him to keep him in place. It takes him a second to regain his balance and finally process what had just happened, but then the fingers are opening and two big brith golden eyes are on him, scrutinizing him with such intensity that he feels exposed for a moment.

Belloc lifts him closer to his face, and Duncan, trying to sit up, falls back down from the speed of the movement. "What the fuck was that for, Vencoatl!?"

Duncan is too busy trying to gather his bearings and understand what the fuck is going on to notice the way Belloc's pupils are so dilatated they look almost round. He tries to look back, to the entrance of the cave, in search of his older brother so he can yell at him, but he finds nothing. The fucker had left?!

He is about to jump off his father's hand to give chase, because he is not a pushover and won't stand for this kind of treason, when his head is forced back and is confronted by Belloc's ginormous head. Bell0c has a finger hooked under his chin, giant claw dangerously close to his face, and is forcing his head up, to the point he has to cling to the enormous digit to be able to breathe properly. His anger changes targets pretty quickly. "Dad, let go!"

He pushes the finger off of him and slaps it when it again tries to grab him, and attempts to stand up, but he is pushed down on his ass and his face is grabbed one more time, now more forcefully, and tilted this way and the other. "Dad, knock it off!"

Belloc seems satisfied enough, because he leaves his face alone and changes objectives, this time pinching and prodding his arms, legs and chest with the pad of his fingers, shoving away his attempts at stopping him and ignoring the stream of curses going his way.

"Be still, child." The first words coming out of his father's mouth do nothing to placate his anger. In fact, they fuel it, especially when he is suddenly flipped on his stomach and the same procedure takes place.

"No, what the fuck, dad?! What's gotten into you all today?!"

The lack of comments about his cursing should have been the first clue.

Belloc ignores him and keeps prodding and pinching his legs and back as if in search for wounds, keeping his thumb between his shoulder blades to stop him from getting up, and Duncan can only try and kick at his fingers and curse like he hasn't in a long while —since getting Barnes off his back he hasn't had the need to—. Finally, the manhandling relents. Belloc makes a weird noise, one Duncan hadn't heard before, and starts moving.

He is engulfed in a fist, and barely manages to keep one of his arms free of the unforgiving fingers coiling around him. He yells again, but Belloc ignores him, moving about in the room until Duncan looses sight of the entrance and all he can see is the hulking form of his father. Belloc settles down, sitting on his haunches, and finally loosens his hold enough for Duncan to get his other arm free.

"Let me go!" Duncan pushes against the fingers imprisoning him, trying to squeeze himself out of the fist, and Belloc's other hand hovers under him, as if ready to catch him in case he does manage to break free. His father's thumb moves to rub his back in circular motions, sometimes even scratching with the blunt edge of his claw. That makes Duncan flinch. "Stop it!"

Belloc has nothing to say to him, apparently, because he only receives a weird croon, so intense he feels himself vibrate in the kaiju's hold, and then brings him up to his face until his muzzle can press against his head. The scales feel rough against his skin, although not painful, and Belloc keeps sniffing him like a hound in search of a bone. He bumps his nose against his back and head, and no matter how much he pushes against him, his father doesn't relent. He is about to yell again, this time with as many colorful insults as he can come up with, when Belloc's tongue sneaks out of his mouth and reaches him. It slides from in between his shoulder blades to the top of his head, and Duncan decides to throw out the window any remaining sanity he had any hope of possessing.

Before he himself notices, he is changing. He feels his skin rip apart and his bones elongate, to the point where Belloc's hand is too small to contain him. The fingers open and suddenly there are two hands supporting his chest, stopping him from falling face first to the ground from the sudden change of size. He manages to land both hands and feet safely, although his balance is still shit because he is not used to the height, weight and the tail —bigger than in his human-size transformation, and therefore heavier and harder to control—.

He scratches the ground with the claws of his feet, and his hands fly to the ones supporting his chest and pry them away. He is running the second he is free. He uses the wall for momentum and manages to push himself away from his father and toward the exit, hidden away from his eyes until that moment with his father's hulking figure. The only thoughts occupying his mind being running and hiding. Just the thought of being subjected to this humiliation for a third time made his skin crawl.

Duncan hasn't even taken three steps in the entrance's direction when Belloc lands in front of it, looking at him with the same blank and intense expression from before. He stops, claws clinging to the rock floor to slow down his momentum, before making contact with the kaiju, and backtracks as fast as he can when Belloc starts walking in his direction. He suddenly feels like a mouse being hunted by a cat. A really big cat. A really big, fire breathing cat. He considers for a moment trying to just fly over him, but then remembers he is currently 110ft tall and the room is not ready for aerodynamic exercises. Then he thinks of just powering through and trying to go over his father, but remembers the last time he tried to win a fight against him and ended up almost suffocating under the king's weight.

He is fucked.

Belloc seems to think the same, because suddenly he goes down, crouching low, with a powerful rumble coming from his chest, and Duncan has exactly three seconds to move out of the way before Belloc jumps. In his direction.

He is, unfortunately, too slow.

He does manage to avoid the brunt of the impact, but he is forced to the ground when his father lands on his back, both arms at his sides to avoid actually breaking his spine from the impact, but forcing him to lay down. His legs are completely immobilized, and he can only claw at the ground in a pathetic attempt to get closer to the exit. It does not work. Belloc nudges the back of his head with his snout, and Duncan tries to reach back and push him off. He just needs enough room to wiggle out from under him and he'll be able to run toward freedom.

Belloc bats his hands away and, with one last sniff to the back of his head, opens his mouth and bites. Duncan is screeching before he can even process what is actually happening. He does not feel pain, that's the only consolation prize he receives, but he does feel his father's teeth chom on his neck and pull. Suddenly he feels his skin so tight and tense his arms retreat toward him, as if in an attempt to lessen the tightness on his muscles, and he is slowly but surely lifted off the ground by what he can only guess is the scruff of his neck.

Did kaiju even have one to begin with?

Belloc's hold is tight and firm, giving no chance of accidental release, and using his temporary immobilization he manages to pull him off the ground just enough to rotate him. He is now laying on his side, his father having released his legs to avoid hurting him when changing his position on the ground, and Belloc's teeth still wrap around the back of his neck. He would be terrified if so many things weren't running through his mind.

Duncan releases another screech, this time more intentional than by accident, as if asking what the fuck are you doing without words, because they are currently trapped at the back of his throat with no intention of coming out. Belloc warbles, and a second later the teeth disappear.

He takes in a deep breath, almost chocking because whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck-

Belloc gives his cheek a big fat lick —as if saying you're fine, no need for dramatics—, pushing his head down and exposing his neck with the force of it, and bites again. This time, his mouth closes around his throat, and any sound of protest he tries to make dies in his chest. In fact, any movement, any attempt of escape, dies the moment his father's teeth scrap the sides of his neck. They both stay still for a few seconds; Duncan because he fears those jaws will close, and Belloc because he is repositioning himself, completely oblivious to his son's internal panic.

The kaiju carefully rearranges himself until Duncan lays completely underneath him, gives a little experimental squeeze that has Duncan on the verge of tears, and moves. Duncan is picked off the ground, or at least his upper body is, still hanging from the kings mouth like a dead gazelle from a lion's jaws, and can only feel his tail and legs drag across the cave floor as Belloc makes them turn and go back to where he had been sitting only a few moments ago. It takes a few more seconds than usually necessary, because he is too big to completely carry off the floor, and Belloc doesn't wanna hurt him on accident.

Only when he has been deposited in a corner of the room, with Belloc laying on top of him like a hen on top of her eggs, is he released. Belloc's teeth un-clasp from around his throat slowly, as if testing the waters, waiting for him to immediately try another prison break, and when that doesn't happen, he lets out a satisfies croon and bumps his nose against his cheek.

Duncan is too stunned to speak or move, or even blink, and Belloc takes that as a sign that his whelp has abandoned his tantrum. He hugs him close and tight to his chest, not wanting the boy to get any more ideas, and purrs. Duncan squirms a little, because Belloc's hold is strong, but ultimately tries to calm down his racing heartbeat —it's so fast he fears his heart will end up breaking out of his chest— and settle down.

He does not want a repeat of what just happened five seconds ago, no way.

Cringing at the feeling of the warm cat-like tongue sliding up his neck, Duncan has no choice but to let Belloc do as he pleases. At first he concentrates on the throat and neck, trying to make sure his teeth left no marks, and then continues up to his face. Duncan hates every second of it.

"Close your eyes." Duncan jumps in his seat when he hears his father's voice. His anger is suddenly coming back tenfold, and his need to scream until he looses his voice is so string he feels smoke coming out of his ears.

"What the f-?!" Belloc ignores him, just like he has been doing for the past fifteen minutes, and swipes his tongue from his chin to his forehead. And then does it again. And again.

"DAD-" He tries to commit to yelling and screaming, but Belloc has developed a good remedy for that by getting dangerously close to his mouth every time a complaint leaves him, so he ends up grunting and screeching and sometimes even growling.

The time he tries to bite he actually hears a laugh, and if he could get red from embarrassment, he would. He tries to hide his face in his arms, but Belloc nuzzles his cheeks and warbles and croons, nudging him out of hiding so he can keep up with his work.

Duncan wants the Earth to open and swallow him and never spit him out.

It's only ten minutes later —although he feels it has been a lifetime—, when Belloc sits up and gathers him in his arms, still not confident he won't try to run away again, and moves from his face to his back, that Duncan accepts that there are no signs indicating Belloc is done with him.

He feels his frustration bubbling up in his chest, and although a part of him is telling him, begging him, to get out of this humiliation and fight for his honor, he swallows his pride. A few moments later he is human again, now laying on his father's hands, and trying not to die while Belloc happily grooms him. Compared to his kaiju transformation, it only takes Belloc a few laps with his tongue to be satisfied with his appearance. The king settles down one again, and leaves him to the mercy of his tail. It coils around him like a snake until he is cradled in it, and Belloc's eyes soften when he sees him exhausted laying against his scales. He rumbles happily, gives him one last lick —receiving an angry fuck you that he pretends he hasn't heard for the boy's sake— and lays his head on top of him, effectively hiding him from the world.

(…)

Belloc looks at his sleeping child, cradled in his tail, and doesn't bother to hide his smirk. Had he been a better person, he would have felt guilty about it, but Belloc has never claimed to be one and never will.

A good father, a decent one, would have told his children, decades ago, that he had built immunity to the godforsaken lichen and that the effects now barely made his vision go blurry and his senses falter for a few hours.

He is not, though, so he enjoys their panic and having an excuse —not that he really needs one, because they are his to love however way he wants— to pamper and annoy them in their adult years.

Duncan is not an adult, but he thinks it doesn't really matter when he has missed the most crucial years of his development, so he considers this some well deserved compensation.

He just hopes Vencoatl runs fast.