Patrilineality: Making Up For Time We Lost

by Melody Song

Chapter 44: Oh Father, My Father

Ocellus smiled as she sat in the throne room with Apex. The two nymphs were drawing something on large papers.

“How’s you’s Celly?” Apex asked, spitting out a crayon.

“I think it’s coming along nicely.” Ocellus said, as Apex put his in her face.

“Wha’ ‘bout mine?”

“I-It’s very nice Apex.” Ocellus told him, and he smiled.

“What’s very nice?” Metamorphosis asked as he walked into the throne room with Pharynx and Thorax. Ocellus and Apex quickly shoved the papers out of view.

“Uh… Apex’s pouncing!”

“Yeah! Jus’ like Uncle Pharynx show’ded me!” Apex said, sinking down and pouncing. Thorax squeaked as the little nymph collided with him, knocking him to the ground.

Pharynx burst out laughing. “Ha! Never gets old!”

“Pharynx, help me!”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Pharrrr!” Thorax whined slightly, and Apex giggled, perching on his chest. “Apex, sweetie, could you let me up?”

“Sor’y Papa Thorax, bu’ mut’ny!” Apex cheered. However, as the little nymph pranced about on Thorax’s stomach, Metamorphosis leaned over and nipped him up by the back of his neck. “Hey! Gran’pa Metyyyyy!”

“Heh, sorry Apex, but there will be no mutiny today!” Metamorphosis chuckled, rubbing the nymph’s head.

“Yeah, come on Apex, we have to go do that… thing… now…” Ocellus said, standing up. Metamorphosis noticed she had some folded-up papers in her hoof. “Remember?”

“Oh yeah! Bye Papa Thorax!” Apex said, dashing off, Ocellus close behind him. Thorax blinked in confusion as he sat up.

“U-Um… that was strange… right…?” Thorax asked, and Metamorphosis nodded.

“Eh, seemed pretty much like Ocellus to me.” Pharynx shrugged.

“Really Pharynx? You don’t think it’s a little bit strange that she came here for the weekend instead of spending it with her friends?” Thorax asked

“Maybe she felt like visiting us for the weekend.”

“Why are you covering for her?”

“I’m not. I just don’t really care.” Pharynx deadpanned, trotting out of the room, though he paused to call over his shoulder. “But I agree, those two are planning something.”

Metamorphosis and Thorax glanced at each other, identical worried looks on their faces.

“Let’s keep an eye on them…” Metamorphosis murmured, and Thorax nodded immediately.

The father and son did their best to keep track of Ocellus and Apex throughout the day. However, it seemed that the two were constantly one step ahead of them. If Metamorphosis and Thorax followed them to the Feelings Forum, they were gone by the time they got there. If they caught the nymphs eating in the cafeteria and headed for them, the two would slip away.

“I give up.” Thorax sighed, collapsing down on his throne. “We’ve followed those two around all day and the most we’ve learned is that apparently Pharynx’s training has improved their hiding abilities.”

“Proud as I am to hear a compliment, why are you so worried anyway?” Pharynx asked, coming in.

“Because they’re up to something! W-What if they’re avoiding us because they’re in trouble? O-Or what if they’re mad at us? Pharynx, they could be mad at us!” Thorax exclaimed, and Metamorphosis, sensing his younger son was on the verge of a panic attack, rubbed his back gently.

“It’s alright Thorax, I’m sure they’re not mad at us. But they are definitely up to something…” Meta murmured, and Thorax whimpered. Pharynx facehoofed.

“You two are overreacting. Dad, Thorax, relax, it’s Ocellus and Apex. They may be mischievous and adorable, but they’re not evil. They’re probably just plotting some silly prank or something. Don’t worry about it and just accept it.”

Metamorphosis took a breath to compose himself, chuckling softly. “Thank you Pharynx, I needed that…”

“No problem dad.” Pharynx nuzzled him, then glanced at Thorax. “You. Stop fussing and do something actually beneficial, like, oh, I don’t know, looking over the patrol schedules with me that we were supposed to be doing an hour ago?”

“Oops…” Thorax chuckled sheepishly, getting up. “Sorry Pharynx, come on, let’s go do that.”

“I’ll come with you two, I don’t have much else to do.” Metamorphosis said.

“No, it’s fine dad.” Thorax smiled at him kindly. “You know Phar and I really appreciate your help, but you should be able to do things by yourself.”

“Maybe you’re right… it’s probably time I found something to occupy myself with besides reading.” Metamorphosis sighed, smiling at his sons. “Well, I’ll see you two later.”

With that, the three changelings departed. While Thorax and Pharynx headed to Pharynx’s office, Metamorphosis wandered around a little. He eventually found himself heading into the kitchens. He shrugged and walked in, looking around. Soon enough, one of the kitchen changelings, Labrum, spotted him.

“Oh, hello Metamorphosis!” she said cheerfully. “Can we help you?”

“O-Oh, I was just wandering around, I was trying to think of something to do with my free time…” Metamorphosis looked around, and Labrum cleared her throat.

“Well, we could use some help with the baking today, a couple of the chefs went home early.”

“I’d be happy to assist, Labrum. Just let me know what you need me to do.” Metamorphosis said, and Labrum led him over to the baking area with a smile.

A little while later, Metamorphosis had pulled a fresh batch of cupcakes out of the oven. They looked a lot better than his first couple attempts, and he smiled proudly. He left them to cool and went to fetch the icing from the storage area, when he heard Ocellus’ voice coming from the kitchen.

“-So, what do you think?”

“I can certainly talk you through the process if you’d like to do it yourselves. Are you sure you wouldn’t want some help?” Labrum’s voice responded.

“Yes, it has to be just us. We’ll be careful though, I promise.”

“Well, alright then. But I’m insisting to be there to at the very least supervise. I won’t have you two burning down my kitchen because you forgot to turn off a stove.”

“Yes ma’am.” Ocellus said chipperly, as Metamorphosis came back in. The nymph was standing with Labrum by the door, Apex on her back. She glanced over and saw Metamorphosis, then squeaked, saying a hurried goodbye to Labrum before dashing off.

Metamorphosis sighed, brushing it off. He began icing the cupcakes, rather pleased with himself. “Maybe this could be my new hobby… it’s fun…”

That night, Metamorphosis sighed as he laid down in bed, exhausted. After helping the chefs with the baking, the unreformed changeling had been convinced by Pharynx to train with him and Thorax for a while. Tired and feeling significantly weaker than before, Metamorphosis stretched slightly, curling up.

“Dad?” Thorax wandered into his father’s room, and the elder looked up.

“What’s wrong Thorax?”

“Do you think I could… stay here for a bit…? Apex wanted to sleep over in Zenex’s room tonight, with Hero. I-I’m kind of lonely…” Thorax said, and Metamorphosis smiled gently.

“Of course Thorax, there’s plenty of room, my Love Bug.” Metamorphosis assured him, and Thorax beamed, climbing into the bed and snuggling up against his father from behind, as he was much too tall for Metamorphosis to hold him comfortably.

“Thanks dad…” Thorax yawned, closing his eyes. Metamorphosis smiled and stared out the window, listening to his son’s soft breaths as he fell asleep.

Soon, more hoofsteps sounded, just as Metamorphosis was drifting off. He opened his eyes slightly, seeing Pharynx climbing into bed beside him. He smiled and chuckled wearily, and Pharynx looked over at him, lavender eyes glowing in the dark.

“I couldn’t sleep…” Pharynx muttered, burrowing under Metamorphosis’ hoof. He smiled and pulled his son close, closing his eyes.

“It’s alright Pharynx… goodnight my son…”

“Night dad…”

------------------------------------------

The next morning, Metamorphosis was woken up by a specific smell. His eyes opened slightly, and he inhaled the savory scent. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, then gasped. “B-Boys, get up.”

“Whattt…?” Pharynx yawned, sitting up and blinking as Thorax did the same. “What the…?”

Ocellus and Apex were standing by the bed, smiling at the three adults. Ocellus was levitating a large tray in her magic, which held plates of eggs, bacon, and hash browns, along with three mugs of coffee. Apex was holding a smaller plate in his mouth, which had a stack of toast on it.

“What’s going on…?” Thorax asked, and Ocellus smiled, setting the tray in front of them.

“Well, Apex and I wanted to do something for you, because today is the one-year anniversary of when Pharynx and Thorax went to find you, dad.” Ocellus explained, as Apex buzzed his wings happily, letting out muffled chirps of excitement from around the plate of toast.

“Kids… thank you…” Metamorphosis said, whispering from shock and joy. Thorax beamed and picked up Apex, taking the toast from him. Pharynx chuckled and grabbed a piece of bacon, eating it.

“We’e you ‘prised Papa Thorax?” Apex asked

“Heh, I was! You’re such a good little secret-keeper, Apex!” Thorax giggled, booping him. Apex smiled and pulled a couple papers out from under his carapace.

“I made you these too!” Apex said, holding the papers up. Metamorphosis giggled and smiled at the drawings of himself, Pharynx, and Thorax. Ocellus and Apex were beside them on one of the papers, waving at them.

“They’re wonderful, Apex.” Metamorphosis told his grandson, who smiled. “Thank you, both of you.”

“Of course dad.” Ocellus climbed onto the bed and snuggled between Pharynx and Metamorphosis. “We love you guys.”

“We love you too Ocellus.” Metamorphosis hugged her. “My daughter.”

Comments

[Martydi]

“Proud as I am to hear a compliment, why are you so worried anyway?” Pharynx asked, coming in.

Is it just me, or does Pharynx in your stories always manage to come into the room when he's mentioned? Maybe he pulled a Voldemort and enchanted his name so he always knows when people are talking about him.

[Melody Song]

10902020
Hehe, honestly, it's just for plot convenience, but as for an in-story reason, he's pretty protective of his family, so he'll likely be close behind them wherever they're going, in this case, he was already looking for Thorax, and there's not many places Thorax commonly goes to

[Martydi]

10902024
Makes sense.

Though I still like Pharynx as He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named better.

[Melody Song]

10902056
Heh, he would make a good Voldemort...too bad he'd never be reformed if he was

[BezierBallad]

10902056
10902073
It would kinda make sense. After all, they kept referring to him as “You-Know-Who”.

[Melody Song]

10902124
Heheh, yeah

[Late_Night]

how are you so good at making tooth-rottingly sweet chapters

[Melody Song]

10902292
Heh, sorry