Nick: (Walks into the living room of the main house in Sanctuary)
Danse: (Asleep on the sofa with a big blanket around him, snoring softly)
Nick: (Taps his shoulder) “Danse, wake up….”
Danse: (Frowns when he sees who is standing in front of him, his arms immediately tensing under the blanket) “….Valentine.”
Nick: “Ya don’t sound too happy to see me.”
Danse: (Grumbles, scowling deeply) “I’m not.”
Nick: (Heavy sigh) “Right… Sorry to hafta do this to you, but it’s time.”
Nick: “You know how this’ll end if ya don’t give in and accept the truth. Ya hafta surrender- we’ll still end up with the same results no matter how much of a fuss you make.”
Danse: (Rumbles even darker)
Nick: (Taps his foot and crosses his arms) “C’mon, I don’t wanna hafta fight ya on this again. I know that we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on many things, but we both know that this is for the best.”
Danse: (Grits his teeth together)
Nick: (Nods his head) “Ya hafta let go… It’s the only way.”
Danse: (Cautiously peels back the blanket to reveal the precious piece of treasure he’s been hoarding for the past hour)
Jasmine/Rosalinda: (Fast asleep all curled up nice and warm on Danse’s chest, kneading like a content little kitten)
Danse: (Hesitant to surrender the sleeping little one to her father because she’s just too cute and he loves her too much to let go. He’s gravely jealous that Nick found the child first and now has all the power when it comes to Kitten Privileges)
Nick: (Gently coaxes Danse further) “C’mon big guy. Y’know that if she doesn’t do her usual bedtime routine, she’ll just wake up halfway through the night and refuse to go back to sleep. Then come morning, we’ll have a cranky little kitten on our hands.”
Danse: “………..” (Reluctantly relents and allows Nick to pick up the teen girl)
Rosalinda: (Whines when she’s moved from her spot on the warm ball of bread dough she was kneading biscuits with, flaring her limbs around)
Nick: (Hushes his kid, rocking back and forth to soothe her) “You’re alright, babydoll... It’s just your Daddy coming to getcha for bedtime. Let’s go put on your jammies, hm?”
Rosalinda: (Immediately curls up to her father’s chest when she recognizes that it’s him, happily cooing)
Nick: (Proudly smiles, walking off to get Rosie ready for bed so she can sleep soundly through the night in his arms)
Danse: (Watches them leave like a sad, kicked puppy)
Hancock: (Pops out from under the blanket, rubbing his eyes) “What’s goin’ on???”
Danse: (Depressed and dejected) “Valentine has reclaimed his kitten so she may exercise her preplanned bedtime routine…”
Hancock: (Realizes that his cherished baby sister is missing from the cuddle pile, causing him to dramatically howl) “Noooooooooo!!!”
Piper: (Sits upright next to Hancock) “Not our kitten!!! Who are we supposed to snuggle now???”
MacCready: (Frustrated grumbles as he too emerges) But we were all so comfy in the cuddle pile! Why did Nick have to ruin it by taking away the one thing that lets us nap on top of Danse?! The man doesn’t even let me breathe on him when the kitten is not in the room!!!”
Deacon: (Exasperated huff, finding his way out of the cuddle pile) “And why does Nick always get the override code when it comes to Kitten Privileges??? The rest of us want our well deserved Kitten Privileges too!!!”
X6: (Speaks up with a bit of sass from his spot leaning up against the wall) “Oh geez, it’s almost like Rosie is Valentine’s daughter and therefore, her father has primary rights on when he gets to hold his own child.”
