ORIGIN - Fishing for Fatherhood

alt title before i remembered fisher has a terrible taste in titles:
"Dad, maybe no one is perfect, but I believe that you are pushing your luck"

also cw for the whole thread for deadbeat dads and swearing!

Okay, okay, okay. Fisher had fucked up.

To his credit, he had been drunk on dank fruit juice, and while he had gone into the whole thing wanting to have a kid or two, he woke up with a wild hangover and no recollection until this exact moment.

And now, as he trudged his way over to where he had left his bag of stuff, he had to figure out how to fix this. It wouldn't have been such a big deal if this was the first time he had fucked up like this, but uhhh... it was starting to be a pattern. Hunter was a FULL GROWN ADULT and just now they were meeting for the first time?

He was in deep.

"Soooo," Fisher tried to keep everything casual. What did dads even talk about? He had gotten into a good rhythm with Ash, but mostly that involved telling her crazy stories while she mostly said nothing because she couldn't talk at all in the first place. The BIGGEST issue, really, was the fact that Fisher had never had a dad.

... Hey, okay, that was something to talk about. "You know, growing up, I didn't even have a dad. Back then, we just all popped out of the stone and flopped about. There weren't any adults back then. Except, uh, I guess... Okay, there was like, Noodle Dad... Shit, have you ever been down in Cetus?" As long as he kept the conversation rolling, it'd be fine.

Fisher didn't dare look at the kid, though. He just ambled his way up to his worn leather bag, slugged off his chunks of armor, and began to dig through it. "Has, uh, did your other dad, stick around?" In the moment, the name escaped him. Of course, as soon as he said that, a horrible sensation of dread crawled backward up his throat and he almost retched right there and then.

Ohhhh boy, he was not ready for this.

Of course Hunter agreed to go with Fisher for a short walk, curiosity prickling through his fingers. He had so much he wanted to talk to his other dad about... honestly, he was kind of intimidated. Where did he start? He had spent his whole life (only a few short cycles, but still... he was an adult now!) wondering about this short, furry noodle that was supposedly his second dad. He had only heard so much from Attikias... 'cause, well, his first dad didn't really know Fisher.

This was finally his chance! Oh, but before he could fumble out something to say, Fisher had began with a "smooth" sooooo... Ears pricking, Hunter crouched lower, easing down on to all fours as he followed after Fisher. The conversation immediately made him feel sad... He had always had his family, and hearing that Fisher didn't have his own father growing up? He could have stayed with Attikias, couldn't he...?

He smiled, though, as Fisher kept going without giving him a chance to ask. "Oh, uh. Nah, I've never been that way. It's out the other way through the ice tunnel between Polaris and Eridanus, right?" He asked curiously, eyes glistening with curiousity. Noodle Dad? Was that like, his grandpa? Adoptive, maybe, from the sounds of it.

Fisher had reached a bag and was starting to rummage through it, and Hunter fussed with his scarf quietly, nose twitching with an itch. His other dad... How did he answer that without making Fisher feel bad?

"Y-yeah," Hunter replied, "Dad-- Attikias-- he raised me and my siblings in Eridanus. Taught me how to use a spear and stuff. But... I mean. Maybe you can teach me how to do that awesome stuff with electricity and metal? That'd be cool!" He encouraged, settling his forehands on his knees, and staring with wide, hopeful eyes at the back of his mustelid dad's scarred, furry frame.

@Fisher for my own records lmao

Cool, cool, cool. Fisher wasn't sweating it. Hunter was a chill kid, a chip off the ol' block, and hey. Hey. Fisher loved this kid more than anything; he loved all his kids. Even if he was terrible at showing it. His fangs, awkwardly crisscrossed in his jaws, grinded together as Hunter rambled on.

"Yeah, kiddo, through the ice tunnel," he agreed, nodding along. He definitely played it cool as Hunter spoke about Attikias (that was his name, huh? Okay, okay, Fisher could kind of imagine the humanoid) and how his better dad taught him how to hunt and junk.

Ah, but bless his naive, sweet, forgiving little heart. "You want me to show you how to use magic, huh?" Fisher glanced sideways at Hunter, giving a toothy grin (he couldn't help that with his protruding fangs, though). "Yeah, sure, I can teach you a few pointers. But you gotta be careful with electricity, you see this?" He raised a paw, gesturing at his scarred flank. "Magic can fuck a guy up."

... Oh shit, he shouldn't have said fuck. Aww, hell. Well, Hunter was a big kid now, right? A few swears couldn't hurt. "You gotta practice safe magic." And not get drunk on fermented fruit and have one or more? kids with a total stranger.

Oh god, oh god, oh man, he could not be having this talk with his baby girl right now.

Deep breath. Re-center.

Story time. Become a hero, a legend, show your kid that they should look up to you as a rolemodel even if the persona is 100% fake as shit. "But before all that, hey. Have you heard of the Trials?" He eyed Hunter once more, tail swishing behind him in a calm, doggish wag.

@Hunter

Hunter nodded as Fisher warned him against the dangers of magic. His own magic hadn't proven very dangerous-- at most, he could give off a little shock... But he also wasn't capable of summoning entire storms like his father. "Okay, but how do I do that? How do I practice safe--" He started to ask, but immediately the father cut his daughter off.

With a very interesting question. "The Trials? No..." He leaned forward, putting his palms on his knees as he did so. Whatever they were, it sounded like a BIG adventure.

"Why?"

@Fisher

Fisher smiled a toothy, playful grin as he reared up-- finding himself only half the height of his own daughter-- and waved a paw toward a random direction. "Far past the bones of Canis, there is a dangerous place known as the Hydra. Every dozen cycles," the number was picked randomly, but fairly accurate, "this place of sand and death becomes a stage for the Trials, a competition far more life-threatening than any Olympics. Lives are on the line. Gembound die, and the clever, the quick, the strong who survive? They are rewarded, and given the title of Champion!"

He thought about adding a clap of thunder for dramatic effect, but refrained, judging by Hunter's already wide eyes, the story had hooked his baby girl. He slumped back down on to all fours. "I took part in a Hydra like no other. The sands were turned to snow, and blizzards raged, a snowstorm so deadly it froze one of my fellow competitors to death within mere minutes. But, we stuck together, braved the snow. We fought flying beasts with icicles for talons, and sought the Key. I found it using my magic to draw the metal Key toward us, and we pushed onward, chased by something... Something far bigger than even the Spire. A massive worm-- don't laugh!"

Fisher grinned, nudging Hunter with a paw. "This thing was huge, a noodle with teeth as large as you! And it had thousands of them, lining its maw, and it swallowed everything in its path. We tricked it, leading it to the icy cliffs, where we used the Key to unlock a brilliant weapon. The only thing that could slay the ice worm, and guess what? Your old man, and a couple of others, we killed that worm. We killed it with that very blade-- plus, a bit of lightning." He winked.

As he was telling this story, however, his dexterous paws fished out something from his bag. "I want you to have this, Hunter," Fisher insisted. He twisted his paw around to reveal it: a sparkling sliver of pure diamond. "When we slayed that worm, the blade shattered its gemstone. This was one of the pieces. Keep it with you, kid, and you'll always have a piece of your old man with you." He held his chin high, pushing the stone into his daughter's stomach.