#dad cecil

From the beginning, you mimicked every single emotion you saw. If Cecil was angry, you were fussy. If Cecil was happy, you were bubbly. If Cecil was sad, you were a constant fountain of tears that he could never seem to calm down.

This sentiment continued as you got older, constantly considering things he had never even thought about. For birthday parties, you'd even invite people you didn't like that Cecil knew you didn't like. It was so perplexing to him. When he'd ask why, he'd be met with some rendition of "well, if I didn't invite them, I might lose a chance to get to like them!" or "think of how they'd feel though!"

The empathy only got stronger as you got older, same did his fear. Kids were and are mean and your kindness was something that could easily be obtained. Undergoing vicious bullying, you cried day in and day out, tearing Cecil's heart into tiny pieces. What's worse is that you rationalized it, your empathy wouldn't let you see any consequences for those bullies. After all, "they could just have a terrible home life!" as you always said.

This "doormating", as he thought, was the bane of his existence. You both were so different. When he was your age, he wasn't the type to consider the perspective of someone that needed to get their ass beat. He always tried to knock some sense into you, but you seemed adamant on your personal philosophy. This unfortunately caused some unintended disconnect between you both that you both refuse to address.

As if the world hates him, one day, you got powers. His beautiful, sweet summer child got fucking superpowers. You took some red earrings after saving an old man on the street. Suddenly you could call upon this "lucky item" or whatever the hell it is to solve any problem you came across. Not to mention the magical companion that he was not allowed to see. It was like an issue out of a comic book.

Cecil put up a congratulative front but behind closed doors was absolutely fucking terrified. You weren't meant to be a hero, yes you cared about people, but doing hero work requires you to get the bad guys without a second thought. You were not fit. The best hero work you could do would be healthcare honestly. That's what he wanted! He was perfectly content with fostering a normal, regular child. But now you wanted to be a fucking hero, goddammit!

He loves you, so much. He admires how kind you are, wished to bring some tiny parts of you into himself as if to restore the warmth in his heart. You remind him of being young and innocent, and he wants to protect that with all of the might he has in his arsenal. How can he facilitate your career without you getting hurt?

Simple! Whenever you do go in the field, instead of just training and working in the office, you do "fake" missions. It's not like they weren't real issues, but the "villains" you fought could hardly be considered opponents on a genuine level. For example, the Elephant was your designated arch-nemesis. Yeah... Not remarkable...

And if you ever did sort of "graduate" from those lower levels, maybe, just maybe, you'd be able to take on bigger issues.

But in the meantime, he tries to make you feel like the biggest, baddest, and heroic hero ever. He threw you an office party when you won against your first villain. Everyone, and I mean everyone in the GDA, had to participate and act like they were so heavily impressed a 13-year-old took down some Z level wannabe villain or else they'd be fired. Cecil doesn't play about his kid.

But you've grown since then, and you won't be a child forever, to Cecil's dismay. He won't always be there to throw you parties, and you won't always be young to dote on and patronize.

You'll be going to college soon--god willing, maybe it'd throw some sense into this whole "hero career" thing--you'll be an adult. Cecil wants nothing more than you to go there, find someone to bring back home for him to thoroughly evaluate, get married, maybe have kids so he can maybe be a grandad, you know, just regular parental aspirations that are specifically without his direct involvement. Only a little terrifying, right? He can't have what happened when you were younger repeat itself. Let alone, let it be your entire life with some douchebag of a partner.

He's not prepared, and he can only hope to steer you in the right direction before it's too late for either of you.

--

"I can be meaner!" You exclaimed, bunching up your fists in exasperation.

You just got back from an epic mission, with trials and tribulations so grand that they not be spoken, with heroic accomplishments on an undiscovered level, your mission was to get coffee for Cecil Stedman.

And you crushed it!

"You took so long to get back to me because you let people cut in front of you because they "looked busy"." Cecil sighed, putting his fingers to his temples.

At least you felt like you crushed it...

"If you wonder why I don't send you on real missions, it's because of stuff like this." He asserted, taking a sip from his coffee.

That sentiment seemed to drive a small dagger through your heart, you frowned, eventually nodding in agreement. You always gave a lot of grace to people; it was just in your nature. You were the kid that cried when other kids cried even when you weren't sad. Having a big heart didn't seem to be commonplace anywhere else.

Cecil shared in your disappointment; it hurt to see you sad. "Hon," he began softly, "I love how empathetic you are, don't get me wrong, but you have tremendous potential to be a valuable asset to the agency. And I in particular, wouldn't want to see you get hurt because you "understood" a villain while on the field."

"I know," you responded, "I need to be more like you."

Cecil snickered at your comment before sighing. He did that a lot when you tried to help.

"Yeah, like me." His frown deepened.

a/n: I didn't mean to make this so sad lol

I purely went with the flow on this. It's sad because it felt right and honestly, it's better than the shitty fluff draft I first cooked up, TRUST ME.