Xisuma's Parrotsitting [HermitSteal AU]

A guide to keeping sharp objects away from the child

One morning, as Xisuma is having his black coffee –the madman – and flipping through yesterday's paper, Parrot comes out of his room quietly. It's not an unusual occurrence, seeing as the boy is normally up with the chickens, so to speak but it is certainly a supernatural phenomenon for a kid without an alarm clock. He flicks his gaze towards the boy's room, although he can't see much other than the hallway, just to see what the bird is up to.

Parrot is uncharacteristically quiet today, which is suspicious. Usually, the kid is going through the house carelessly, hiding away snacks in stashes under furniture and carpet and who knows where else (out of which Xisuma has found most of), doing noisy things that attract attention. Other activities may include waking Xisuma up by banging pots right above his head, opening and shutting cabinets until the man gets up to make breakfast and letting the sink run for a worrying amount of time when no one is in the room.

The little menace doesn't let him sleep, so today, he set his alarm clock extra early.

Parrot darts between the bathroom and his bedroom at record speed, beginning his routine of shutting doors with needless effort and making the hinges squeak like a dying animal. That's all the prompting Xisuma needs to get up and end whatever mischief the boy is up to. Putting down his half-full cup, he grabs the bowl of oats and sunflower seeds from the counter to place on the table.

"Parrot, breakfast is ready!"

A feathered face peeks out from behind the wall, white eyes wide with surprise. Slowly, as Xisuma takes his seat again, Parrot reveals himself and approaches, wings fluffing up and settling within an instant once he is close to the table. He is already wearing his school bag, letting the whole thing hang off his shoulder. It doesn't look comfortable but Xisuma can guess that it wouldn't be comfortable against the shoulders of his wings either.

This is also the first time Xisuma hasn't had to pester him about getting his bag. That's a little weird; he had to remind him three times yesterday!

Parrot only graces him with a glance before he digs into his bowl of breakfast. Xisuma looks at him right as he casts his gaze down and he sees the reason for Parrot being up so early.

A handle of something is sticking out of his bag. He looks back at the knife block on the counter; one of the knives is missing.

Oooookayyyy , time to diffuse a situation that could go massively wrong! Come on, Xisuma, parenting skills!

"Parrot", he starts and the boy freezes like he knows that he's done something wrong. Which he has done. Regardless, Xisuma continues carefully. "Is that a knife?"

Picking at his food, Parrot looks at the zebra-lined seeds like they're the most interesting thing in the world. "...No"

Xisuma sighs, long and weary and what has he done to deserve any of this?

"Parrot, please put the knife back"

The boy's head snaps up so fast that he might've given himself whiplash. It is fast and sudden enough to make Xisuma jump in his seat.

"No"

"Parrot, please", where did you even get that without me noticing? The little– He must've pre-planned this! It probably happened during the night because Xisuma always counts the knives in the block before he goes to sleep. Always . You can never be too careful with a parrot chick with murderous intent. "You can't bring a knife to school, it's against the rules"

"Yes, I can"

Well, there goes that plan, he supposes. If he wants to not get sued over his child stabbing another child by accident (or not), he needs a plan B. How does he go about this one? Parrot can very well threaten him into allowing him anything but Xisuma doesn't want to take it that far.

"Okay", he says, because what else is there to say to that? Parrot looks at him with a dumbfounded look on his face; eyes wide, brows arched and mouth forming a line. Xisuma doesn't let that faze him. "Why do you need the knife?"

He thinks he knows why Parrot wants the knife. The boy has lived on the streets for long enough to feel safe with a weapon at his side, like the gun and the knife. When he went to pick him up that one time, the group of kids concerned him. Even after they returned home, Parrot didn't talk about it and Xisuma left it at that.

Seeing how things have escalated, perhaps he should've asked.

Parrot doesn't grace him with a response, too busy looking at him. It's probably the first time the boy has to answer for his actions and isn't faced with angry shouting or whatever else Parrot thought he was going to face.

"Does it have to do with those kids at school?", and he waits, patiently with his hands overlapping on the table. Parrot looks down at his bowl, fiddles with the remaining seeds in it and if that isn't a dead giveaway that Xisuma is right, then the way his wings tuck tighter against his back must be.

"They called me a bastard", Parrot says in a tiny voice, "and they said that nobody likes me and that mum didn't stay because I was a mistake..."

Oh. To be honest, Xisuma doesn't really know how Parrot ended up on the streets and obviously neither do the kids that told him those horrible things. A pang of sadness hits him right in the heart.

Slowly, he stands, carefully rounding the table. He doesn't stop until he's kneeling by Parrot's seat, now at eye-level with the boy.

"Thank you for sharing this with me, Parrot", he says. Parrot looks at him out of the corner of his eye before shifting so his face is hidden.

The kid reminds Xisuma of a younger Xanthus, though in his brother's case, he was the one causing trouble and if there was anything that he was taught whilst bringing him up, it's that any want needs to be acknowledged.

"I understand that you want to take revenge but violence isn't the answer", he continues, raising a hand and–

He lowers his hand to his lap. Parrot would probably bite him if he touched him.

"Please, put the knife back, I'm sure we can do something about this"

After a few moments, Parrot turns to look at him. He turns his full body to face Xisuma, a leg swinging back and forth and hands innocently set on his lap.

"You're right", he says and, boy is Xisuma relieved! Holy, that must be the most stressful situation of his life.

He gets back up on his feet and retreats to his own seat. Parrot takes the chef's knife out of his bag and puts it on the table with surprising care. Then, he appears to forget about the rest of his breakfast as he leaves his school hag on the floor to go to the inner rooms.

Xisuma can't help the itch at the back of his mind that Parrot is up to something but he has to pack him a snack for school. A small loaf of raisin bread is put in a paper bag and Xisuma leaves it on the table for Parrot to grab when he returns–

Parrot returns with his gun. Xisuma is stunned for a moment, confused as to why is he holding it? He doesn't comment as he grabs his snack and stuffs it in his bag.

"You said not to take the knife", the boy shrugs.

When Xisuma makes a sound of panic, Parrot is already out the door. The man runs after him without a moment of hesitation.

"Parrot, that's not what I meant!"