You ARE The Father! [Finished!]

[Bee]

He must have worn himself out worse than he thought, with all the rage and the smashing and shit; it was really the only possible explanation for the fucking madness that was happening right now. Rin was a decent-sized guy but this was bleeding ridiculous, unless the stupid failure detective was somehow cutting a better paycheck and buying himself some fucking doughnuts. His wings were like a bloody blanket smothering him.

"Get off, you fat asshole!" He drove his elbow into the underside of the bat's chin but it didn't seem to be enough to dislodge him; from this angle he couldn't make his tail smack anything hard enough or vital enough, and that was only making him angrier, which was only making him even more fucking tired, which made him want to smash Rin's face in more because it was clearly his fucking spawn that was causing the problem but he couldn't get to Rin's face, even biting.

He'd rather stop entirely than hit like a little girl, so he threw the last of his energy into the most solid second punch to Rin's neck he could before sucking in a breath and rather blatantly lying, "Seriously, I'm bored with this now, get the fuck off."

[Dark]

Rin frowned, feeling vaguely affronted; he knew Jin's mouth had a tendency to just go off, but he wasn't fat. He was sturdy. And barely that, lately; he hadn't eaten decently in a month. Rin frowned some more. It was odd that he was worrying about this; clearly, he did not want to focus on pressing reality.

And then his focus was redirected once again by a fist to his larynx, before Jin finally gave up fighting. Rin was loathe to trust his sudden complacency so easily, but the man looked and sounded exhausted. Rin slowly released him, and rolled off, wary of further hysterics. He had several spots where Jin had managed a glancing blow, and they were smarting.

Awkward silence ruled. Rin cleared his throat, unsure how to start. Where the fuck did they go from here? He was totally out of his element.

"So, you're--pregnant."

[Bee]

"Yeah, no shit," Jin said, rolling himself into a sitting position. He felt vaguely achy everywhere. "I can see why you're such a sought-after detective, with those finely-honed skills."

Now that murdering Rin hadn't panned out quite the way he'd wanted it to (i.e. not at fucking all), he wasn't really sure what his next move should be. He'd wanted something out of Rin, clearly; something other than his death, probably, considering he was still sitting here instead of stomping out of the office as best he could stomp under the circumstances. Maybe he was hoping that some kind of response from Rin would help him decide what to do, though maybe anything Rin said wouldn't sway his decision at all. He had half a mind go back home and raise the brats there, but that reeked offensively of cowardice.

Finally he dredged something up. "I'm positive they're yours, obviously. So whatever you wanna do about that."

[Dark]

Rin considered the canine; he couldn't fathom what it was Jin expected from him, what he wanted him to say. Should he offer empty condolences, tell him everything would be fine? They both would know that it was a crock.

He had never wanted children--his stomach lurched and his heart beat out a panicked staccato at the thought--had never even really considered the possibility, and Jin didn't seem particularly pleased with the news, either. What a pair they made. They were practically strangers, and now they had to raise a liter?

His thoughts turned inevitably towards his beautiful, damaged sister Aurélie, selfishly abandoned and dead for it; to wayward Isolde, bled out over the difference of a few coins; and most recently, Abner. He had failed a lot of people in his life, including himself. Would he fail Jin, too?

"What can I do, Jin? beyond support you," he managed to croak out.

[Bee]

Jin actually almost laughed derisively, at that. As far as he could recall, Rin could barely financially support himself. What was he going to do about one, two, three, or light help them, even more kids? Unless he meant some kind of emotional support, which he neither wanted nor needed. Shit, what did he want? What could Rin do?

(He supposed he already knew the answer, somewhere in the back of his mind. He did. Saying it aloud would just make him feel unbelievably stupid.)

"I just want them to be able to know you if they want to, I guess," he said, reluctantly. And wasn't that it? It felt like it might be. He didn't want them growing up with no idea who their father was, like he had.

He was right. It sounded really fucking stupid said aloud.

He gave the bat a somewhat pointed look. "If you want to."

[Dark]

That question terrified him. Jin was basically giving him a way out; all he had to do was say No, I Don't and it would all be a bad dream. The uncertainty of the situation could end here; he couldn't fail anyone if he wasn't there to begin with (though his absence would be another kind of failure, wouldn't it). The choice taunted him, and a strong part of him wanted to flee through the provided exit and never look back.

"Yeah," Rin swallowed thickly, and tried again. "Yes. I'd like that." And was surprised to find that he really meant it; he was terrified, to be sure, but he wouldn't walk away. He would see this through.

Rin glanced at his pitiful office; after Jin's destructiveness, there was no way he'd be able to hold onto the lease, but it might have been for the best. If he was going to support a bunch of kids he would need a steady job, even if it left a bitter taste in his mouth to walk away from it.

[Bee]

"Well...good then."

Now that the core issue of the conflict had been resolved, he felt relatively at ease and relatively adrift. He'd planned to spend the rest of the afternoon disposing of a body, but he guessed he had to revise his plans. Rin had capitulated easily.

At least it would be less difficult now to feed and shelter the brats, which he had honestly been worried about, considering that at present he had no reliable source of income beyond extorting random strangers, and most of that he had spent on pleasant diversion. Rin's detective job may have paid little, but at least there was some money coming in.

At the very least, he could stuff them in a drawer in Rin's office on the weekends or something.

Oh shit. He needed a job. Shit. He didn't want one of those.

Spawn ruined everything.

[Dark]

[3 Weeks Later]

After so long of living at his own pace, Rin was finding it extremely difficult to get up every morning; and it didn't help his motivation that he was deliberately waking up so early to go to hell.

Mikey's Diner. The only place he could find employment, and quickly becoming his own personal ring of hell. As the newbie he got the worst shifts, the longest hours, and then there were the patrons, who took a special joy in never being satisfied with anything and loved to disagree with what things like over-easy and well-done actually meant.

Rin groaned, and heaved himself out of bed; it took more and more effort to get up and go back every day.

He passed Jin on his way to the kitchen--he needed coffee--and reflected on the turn his life had taken. They are come to some sort of truce, he supposed; at least Jin was letting him stay at his apartment for the moment. Since, as Rin had predicted, his lease has been revoked along with his deposit, after a certain person's rampage.

He sighed into his coffee cup. He had to leave for work soon.

[Bee]

Jin had also gotten up, not because he was going to work, but rather because he felt soul-crushingly queasy and was doing his very best not to vomit, because there was little he hated more in the world than puking and he was determined not to do it, no matter how miserable it made him.

He thought that maybe a little food would settle the revolt currently in progress in his stomach and wandered into the kitchen for the driest piece of toast imaginable. He saw Rin sighing over his cup of coffee and wondered what the fuck he had to be so bereft about. Was he throwing up? No. Stow it, bat. Jin had graciously accepted him into his tiny apartment, he should be jumping for joy. It was hardly his fault his landlord was a dick who couldn't stand a few holes in the wall.

He grabbed some bread and jammed it in the toaster. He would leave for his own job, but not until much later in the day. Hopefully he would be feeling better by then, so he could charm, extort, and otherwise con fine people out of their money properly. He had to say he liked his job. Short hours, excellent pay, breaks whenever he wanted. The perfect system.

[Dark]

Rin glanced at Jin as he entered the kitchen, and winced; he was looking a little green around the gills, again. Morning sickness did not agree well with the canine, and he tended to be even more acerbic when he was having a bout of queasiness. Hopefully the toast helped.

"Good morning," he muttered, and took another sip of his coffee. He had found it in his best interest to not comment on Jin's physical (or mental) state, ever, as it tended to trigger a complete psychotic break and a searing round of verbal abuse; he had learned that particular lesson quickly. Not that Jin needed a reason to go off, but Rin didn't want to give him additional fuel.

Hormones; combined with an already high-strung personality, bad things happened.

Rin glanced at the clock morosely; he really needed to leave soon. He wondered how long he could push it off without being late.