Sam's Past (Samgladiator Fanfiction)

Let's get settled in!

Sam found his way upstairs, looking through the rooms for a certain raven haired boy who was nowhere in sight. On the upside, he now knew there was a porch, a bathroom with bath and shower, a master bedroom, and a little office. Maybe the downstairs seemed to have been a bit deceptive. No, in reality, Sam was just savoring every new room and thing he'd soon acquaint himself with. The exploration of every now blue wall, white carpet, and oak accents, it was all the sweeter a sight to him. But of course, in a house like this, you won't be alone long, something Sam would soon grow to love. As the sound of little thumps hit his white ears, Sam turned to see JJ scrambling out of one of the remaining doors he hadn't checked. He was chasing small colored rubber balls, a red toy storage bin under his right arm. Sam noticed a few rolling his way and decided to help round up the remaining runaway balls. As JJ put the bin down and poured out his armful of multicolored balls, he jumped a bit as Sam had already done the same thing while his head was still down. After a small yelp, the hazel-eyed boy grew a smile so purely full of joy it would never give justice to describe it.

"SAMMY!"

He cried out in absolute glee. Before he could even stand he hugged the nearest part of the hybrid close to him. Clearly, such an act could only end one way. Caught off guard and the human boy unstable still himself, both toppled to the floor and, due to Sam's flailing on the descent, the once filled bin was kicked over and the balls made way for their probable third escape. Though this mess should've grabbed as much of JJ's attention as before, the hybrid he still clung to was now top priority. The two laughed after a moment as Sam tried to pull JJ up to at least attempt to hug him properly, despite being on the floor as well as sideways. Sam's voice laced with airy giggles.

"Hi! Um, I think the balls are running away again."

"Oh! I got it!"

The young boy clambered on the ground, trying a different approach than when he was less enthusiastic. His prior technique of walking towards and picking up the spheres was traded for full body crawling and using his arms as a barricade for as many bouncy balls as he could muster the energy to military crawl towards. The whole display made Sam laugh and, by infectious happiness, JJ began to do the same. After a moment, everything was back where it belonged and placed on a table, out of harm's way at last. Finally, the young human was on again and seemed to radiate with joy, the grin on his face almost stuck. He hugged him again, welcomed by, but odd to, Sam.

"You're here... Hey, these are yours!"

The boy went on and presented the now all too familiar bin of mischievous balls to the rabbit. He gratefully took hold of it and noticed his name in black marker on the side of it.

"Thanks, JJ, but... You spelled my name wrong."

In bold black in, the box had Samule hastily written on it. JJ looked at the long side where it had been written and let out a small, if not amused, 'oops'.

" Sorry, I guess I was a little busy."

Sam looked curiously at the door JJ had come through, which JJ stood in front of defensively, arms outstretched.

"Don't go in, yet! It's not done, it's a surprise." He said.

"But, I wanna see what's in there. Is it my room?" The rabbit asked, his small tail wagging just beyond the human's view.

"No, it's our room. We share when dad's working out of town... or... Continent."

Out of continent? The hybrid thought to himself.
Just before he could voice his concern, a voice from downstairs called for them.

"Boys, dinner's almost ready, come down!" Called a sweet feminine voice that only moments later yelled "Jin stop trying to taste the soup!"

The boys raced down to be met with the best smells of a good meal to come. They saw Jin laughing as his wife tried cornering and stopping him from trying to taste the alluring dish, defenselessly hiding away in a still warm pot. JJ found himself already laughing and trying to corral his father out of the living room with his mother. Sam just smiled, watching but not interacting. It wasn't his place, not yet to him at least. Jin noticed the complacent boy and willingly played defeat to get closer to Sam. He picked him up, something that he recognized strangely calmed the hybrid. He spoke up on his lack of intervention.

"Coulda used a little help, you know."

"Oh. I'm sorry, but", the rabbit, quick to hide his true intentions, continued, "you were losing."

Jin slack jawed as Cordelia and their son laughed.

"Wow, alright then, I see how it is... and I wasn't losing! It was a strategic mind game."

The rabbit tilted his head, a smirk playing on his lips, " So... you lost your own game?"

"Ending the conversation- BAAABE, he's bullying me!"

Cordelia just continued laughing before picking up and putting JJ on the couch. She seemed to pull both Jin and Sam closer to with her smile.

"How about we do something before dinner's done, yea?" She said to Sam more than anyone else.

He looked around as JJ had already started towards the door near them which seemed to be a dining room and Jin followed behind. As they all entered, Jin had put Sam down, unintentionally making his guard rise. The excitement was there, but it was slowly being snuffed by worries of where or even if he belonged in the house, let alone the family. Though JJ was going on about decorating cupcakes that sat peaceful on a plate in the center of the polished cedar table, Sam heard rough to nothing. The family went in and out with icing and toppings, but Sam only moved to sit at the seat farthest from the action. The family started up until Cordelia just kept glancing at him, concern in her eyes and heart. She knew a bit about the little boy. The lack of love and under appreciation, it made her want to give him the world. After her husband and son frosted, but seemingly refused to decorate the cupcakes, she was unable to go on either.

"Sam? Aren't you going to join us? You can decorate however you want and there's more than one kind." She said, almost pleadingly.

He just smiled halfheartedly and shook his head.

"It's okay, you guys are having fun." He said, forcing a cheery tone.

Cordelia looked over to Jin, her expression telling him to do something. He moved in, sitting next to him.

"What's up, buddy? You seemed happy a few minutes ago. What's eating you?" He asked.

Sam just shrugged, trying to brush off the concern. JJ, however, started pushing the plate down to his chair, deciding to bring the activity to him.

"Come on, we don't get to make sweets often! You'll regret it later~" The young boy said, singing slightly to egg the hybrid on.

He looked uncertainly at the plate. Cordelia pushed the pipets, sprinkles, and such over to him. She smiled, her voice full of encouragement.

"Come on, it'll get you a bit more comfortable." She said, ruffling his hair a bit.

Sam looked around him. A mother, a father, and a brother, all smiling and waiting on him. He asked, perpetually wary.

"Are you sure?"

And it was Jin who laughed and made the air go from thicker than badly burnt honey to cool and freeing.

"Of course. Let's get settled in... Sam, let's be a family."

All the while, kind laughter filled his words. Sam felt welcomed again, his heart filling so much it hurt. For once though, it wasn't so bad. He could almost say it was pleasant. So, he nodded and they all smiled in relief. After letting Sam get accustomed to the activity, Cordelia turned on some music and let it fill the house. She decided to leave all her boys to their own devices and keep a careful eye on dinner, as it would be the first they had

As a family.