Through the Years

Curfews

"Good day, hon?" He asks as Tomura grumbles to himself, plopping Cloud onto the floor and beginning to thump around in the cupboards for food. "Jeez, babe, gimme five to say hi to Star."

"We'll discuss it later." Is the cold response from Tomura.

Dabi stares at him for a second, looking a little irked, but rolls his eyes and cocks a white eyebrow as he returns his attention back to you, ruffling your hair.

"Answer then, twerp." He teases.

"It was ok." You tell him as he begins helping Tomura, Cloud yowling for food and rubbing against their ankles. "I passed the math quiz."

"Attagirl." Dabi praises, grinning proudly at you and squeezing your cheek like some kind of grandma.

"Dad!" You whine, rubbing where he'd pinched.

Even Tomura's paused to look at you with an unmistakable proud warmth in his eyes, his cracked lips turned upwards.
He holds his fist up, like he used to when you were younger, and you bump your knuckles against his gently.

"Good job, Starfire." He praises. "Pick a treat for yourself."

"It's okay pa, I don't mind-"

"It wasn't a request." He says, silencing you effectively.

"What's up?!" You hear Jin call from the front door the second it opens, and you beam, spinning around to grin directly at him.

Except when you see Shuuichi behind him you freeze momentarily, your eyes widen and your face heats up. Jin had said he'd come upstairs, not Shuuichi.

"Hey, twos." Dabi greets. "F' I'da known you were coming, I'd have put a shirt on."

"No need man, your home." Jin says, clapping his hand against Dabi's back loudly. "Whole'a Japan's seen ya shirtless anyway!"

You snicker as Dabi rolls his eyes, disappearing off to put a shirt on anyway, probably.
Tomura greets Shuuichi calmly, the heteromorph rolling his sleeves up to help Tomura cook without even being asked to. The two almost immediately start talking about a new game release that you weren't too familiar with, so you're glad you at least have Uncle Jin to give your attention to.

"How ya been, Star?" Jin asks, smiling at you with a warmth that makes you feel like you're the only person in the room right now.

"I've been okay. What about you?" You ask in return. "Himiko says she's been making friends with Mai."

Jin grins even more fondly at the mention of his daughter. "Yeah, they've been having fun I think! Toga's a bit much, though. Mai's a little shy... Total hermit!"

"Maybe Himiko will make her less shy." You muse. "Like Aunty Aiko helped me be less shy."

"Maybe! Hopefully." Jin smiles a little more softly. "Got any drawings to show me?"

"I can show you." You say, gently tugging on his arm, which is enough for him to be led to your room without complaint.

Cloud follows along with you until you pass Dabi in the hallway as he leaves his room, now with a shirt on. Dabi picks the unsuspecting calico up, holding him over his shoulder and scratching between his ears.

"C'mon, don't leave me alone with the nerds, Cloud." Dabi says to him as he carries him off.

Cloud seems happy to be held though, probably because Dabi is always warm.
You show Jin into your room, leading him straight to your desk and opening your sketchbook.
He flips the pages carefully, his grey eyes scanning over each drawing meticulously, even the ones you'd left unfinished, scribbled out or written annotations on where you'd gone wrong.