Chapter Text
“I’m not, and that's how you know for sure I’m not. I’d tell ya if I was, I'd have fun with it. Tease you while you try to guess what's the truth and what isn’t.” Justin’s face quickly dropped from its angry glare and he giggled once the word ‘fun’ was brought up…
Giriko was shocked how easy that was, how fast Justin dropped his sour mood and critical eyes. Maybe that's just how kids were, Giriko wasn’t sure, it wasn’t like he was around them often. He didn’t have long to wonder if it was normal though. Justin made that same firm eye contact with him again, now graced with a sharp smile.
“You’re such a bad boy.” The way Justin said that was both childish and scolding, it reminded Giriko far too much of when they first met. So much so he had to suppress a blush. Little shit was messing with him now, wasn’t he? Probably not, this Justin was way too young to know how mocking that was, but still. It was just too fucking much.
“I can lie too. My dad says not to lie to him but I’m allowed to lie to others.” Giriko arched a brow hearing that. Oh? It was uncommon that a parent was so keen on their kid lying. Made sense why Justin current day was so fluent with it then, he started real young, he probably was taught by his dad if the man was so specific to tell Justin he could lie to others. Giriko’s interest in this mysterious dad of Justin’s kept raising more and more. He wanted to know what current day Justin thought of the man.
More importantly than that…
“Have you been lying to us?” It felt weird for Giriko to refer to himself and Tezca as a unit, but here they were. Giriko needed to know if Justin’s lying went to either of them, if he was perhaps lying exclusively to Tezca or exclusively to Giriko. It was possible, Justin might trust one of them over the other. Giriko would be pissed if Justin trusted Tezca more though. Older Justin would get an earful over that if that turned out to be the case, even though it wouldn’t really be his fault.
“Mmm. I don’t know, I don’t think so…” Justin drew out the ‘mmm’ there, really thinking about it deeply. He was cute all little like this. Not immediately coming up with something to get Giriko off his back or saying no in a sharp tone and instead really thinking about the last few days. Which was more than enough to convince Giriko the kid had been pretty damn honest with them. That was both surprising and expected. A little kid wasn’t really smart enough to keep a story straight, but the fact it was Justin made it honestly shocking.
There was a bit of a pause.
“I’m worried because something comes for my daddy at night. I said it was a demon but the nuns only hurt me for saying that.” Blinking at the suddenness of that statement, Giriko tried to catch up. He had thought they moved past the topic of Justin’s father and onto lying but apparently not. It was surprising to be brought back to it, but not disappointing, not at all. This worked out great for Giriko actually, he was getting to learn about the kid’s secrets without having to push too hard. Fucking perfect. Older Justin could only get so uppity about it later when it was his little self spilling it all without any prompting.
“I’ve been gone too long. I’ve never been apart from my dad this long… I don’t know what he’ll do to me.” Giriko had a feeling it was something like this right from the start, but hearing it come out was another thing entirely. There was a silent hot rage that started to subtly pump through his veins, burning them into ash and making his whole body sting. He clenched his jaw and stiffened up just enough to stay in control, to stay calm and not let Justin into what he was feeling here. He couldn’t blow up now, not while Justin was so little…
“What do you mean?” Asking for specifics was just going to get him angrier, but Giriko couldn’t help it. He wanted to know, he had gotten them into this because he wanted to know, he wasn’t going to pussy out now just because he felt like he was fucking boiling. Giriko didn’t even notice he was staring at the floor until Justin shifted out of the corner of his eye… a movement that would normally make Giriko look up in question, but now only made him focus harder on the wood grain of the paneled flooring. He couldn’t stand seeing Justin right now, not yet.
He needed to keep his calm, to hear Justin’s response with a clear head.
“He’ll hurt me. I’m not supposed to leave his side and look at how far I am.” Biting the inside of his cheek Giriko choked back a ravenous growl hungry for revenge. He couldn’t be scary, he couldn’t be. He was dealing with a kid, a much smaller version of his already tiny brat that could run at a moment's notice. What was this doing getting to him so much anyway? He had already suspected it, he had already assumed it, why was hearing it so different?
“...Does your dad do that a lot?” Justin nodded lightly, just barely a twitch up and down but confirmation. It was barely a movement, but also more than enough to get Giriko fired all the way up. He wasn’t hiding his anger all that well anymore, Justin seemed to be stiffer, his spine straight as an arrow and the slightest bit of sweat on his brow. Visible, but just barely. Justin was a braver kid then most, still sitting here strong, Giriko took a second to appreciate that in him before continuing.
“...What's he do?” Remembering the ball in his hand Giriko pushed it back at Justin. It rolled against the wood with a smooth sound, only tarnished the slightest bit as an uneven ply of the hardwood created a little bump. The noise it made felt so loud in the quiet room. Justin caught the ball and held it for a second. He pushed it back a bit harder than he had been before, not missing a single beat once he had decided on it. It was almost rushed, like he wanted to get it over with.
“He makes me lay down and then my butt feels weird.” Giriko caught the ball, feeling it thump into his hands while the rest of him stayed steady in shock. His brain was blank, only the feeling of the ball in his hands registering at all. He had been expecting that Justin’s dad was hurting him of course, that had been rage inducing but not a shock, but this ? Giriko hadn’t expected this. They stayed silent for a bit too long and Justin started to tear up.
“You don’t believe me either, do you.” Justin’s words were accusatory. Impatient and hateful. His decision was already made, conclusions drawn and judgement given. He had been hurt too many times by this. Giriko knew the feeling, but he wasn’t going to let Justin end it like that. Sure, there wasn’t really anything that could be said to that, but there were still some responses that could be offered.
“No. No I do. That’s just. Odd.” Giriko cringed at how he put that. It was the best he could manage on the spot but that didn’t really make it any better, any less awkward. Justin’s whole face was growing wet now and his cheeks were swelling outwards in a pout. It was clear that wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but before Giriko could even try to correct it, the boy responded with a firm look. Somehow still strong and unwavering. Not letting himself be pushed around again.
“I don’t like it. I don’t even know why. I hate it.” There was something about Justin’s voice there, sad, pensive, lost, but also filled with a rage. It was the first hint Giriko had gotten of Justin, his Justin , the beginnings of who would become his husband.
“I hate not knowing. I don’t know what I did wrong. I don’t know how to be a good boy.” Justin’s voice was wet and tears were bubbling down his cheeks even faster now, he wasn’t full out sobbing yet, but it was absolutely well on its way to happening. Still he pushed the ball back to Giriko. Giriko honestly didn’t want to catch it this time, he didn’t want to accept what was being given to him, what he was being trusted with here. Still he caught it, for Justin.
“I’d hate it too.” Giriko didn’t remember being a kid, at this point those memories were long long gone… Still, he could imagine how frustrating it’d be to be so clueless as to what was happening. Giriko wondered what happened when Justin eventually learned. He wondered what that realization looked like, what horror must’ve overtaken him. No one would be ok with such a thing, and considering the type of person Justin was… it could only be even worse for him.
“I want my dad back.” Giriko froze. He… didn’t know how to react to that. That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear at all. He was expecting the anger to keep growing as Justin went on, for his rage to take the form of cursing out his dad’s existence and the harm he had done… but that wasn’t what was happening at all. Justin always seemed to surprise Giriko, even like this he always seemed to have a different way at looking at things then Giriko did. It was something Giriko had always found intriguing.
“Even if he hurts you?” Justin was sobbing now, he was muffling himself but the crying was still leaking through. Regardless, he jerkily nodded his head yes. The despair coming off the kid was suffocating, Giriko could barely keep a hold of himself.
“Yes! Yes once he’s there it feels alright! He makes it alright and he-! He loves me and he’s worried. He has to be worried…” Suddenly Giriko understood all those pained looks on Tezca’s face, there was a terrible pang through his heart as he listened to these cries and knew Justin’s dad was never coming back. No, he was undoubtedly 6 feet under and rotting by now. Which to be fair, was probably for the best. If he was still around Giriko probably would be turning him into shredded meat pretty quickly… but Justin didn’t know any of that. He just knew he was alone. Giriko’s lips knotted up before falling into a grimace.
“Yeah I bet he is.” The lie tasted sour on Giriko’s tongue. Never before had he felt guilty for lying, but right now it felt like he had been covered by a thick black blood that called for repentance. It was an unfamiliar feeling, and one Giriko was finding he really didn’t like. So he ignored it. Now wasn’t the time to deal with it anyway.
“Come here.” The teary look Justin gave him just screamed pain. Swollen face and a tense forehead that had to be aching. It was a look that made Giriko want to go over there himself, cut this short and get on with this but he couldn’t risk scaring Justin off. This was more than a vulnerable moment for the kid and if Giriko was too rough… he didn’t even want to know what would happen.
Eventually Justin listened and came over, shocked but not struggling when Giriko scooped him up onto his lap. A warm hug that curled all around the small boy and kept him wrapped up tight and safe. That let Giriko hold every bit of the kid and give everything he had to Justin. The entirety of his soul was in there, making sure Justin could feel it, that he could feel he wasn’t alone anymore.