A few nights later, Niles was cleaning up after dinner when a loud thump at the window caught his attention.

He looked up and jumped back in surprise. Seb had pressed his tiny face up against the kitchen window and was scowling at him. Niles hurried to let Seb in, and the angry little thing bustled in as if he owned the place.

"Hi, Seb," Niles greeted him. "How're you doing?"

"It's too hot outside," he said grumpily. "I don't want to be out there right now."

Niles raised his eyebrows. The little faerie houses in the garden had battery powered heating and cooling systems in them, so that couldn't be what was bothering the child.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Niles said, playing along. Seb often came up with excuses to visit, as he was too proud to say what was really bothering him. "You're more than welcome to cool down in here, if you'd like."

Seb immediately plopped down on the counter, still frowning, and Niles looked out into the dark backyard. "Where's Rylan?" he asked.

"Out." Seb said shortly.

Ah. So that was it. The little pixie was lonely, not warm.

"Hmm." Niles looked down at him, and the pixie crossed his arms over his chest, not meeting Niles' eye.

"I was just putting away the leftovers from dinner," Niles announced suddenly. "Would you like some?"

Seb finally looked up at that. There it is, Niles thought, trying not to smile. That's what he wants.

"No," Seb answered, looking insulted.

"Oh, no, really?" Niles said. He looked at the Tupperware worriedly. "I made too much this time around. You'd really be helping me out if you ate some. I don't have enough room in this container."

It was a blatant lie, but the pixie sat still and considered it. "Fine," he relented. "But only because you're such a poor planner who can't even cook the right amount of food. And just this once."

"Thanks, Seb," Niles said, pretending to look relieved. He dished up a little plate for the pixie and slid it over to him. "You're really helping me out."

He finished cleaning the kitchen, watching the little pixie out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't believe Seb was actually playing along with such a flimsy excuse. As if a tiny pixie could make a dent in clearing out the leftovers of a human-sized dinner. The poor thing must really be feeling out of sorts.

Ashton wandered in from taking the trash out, and his eyes lit up when he noticed Seb. He made a move to go over to the pixie, but Niles turned to him quickly, warning him off with his eyes.

Don't tease him, he mouthed at Ashton. He glanced over at Seb meaningfully, who was stoically ignoring them while he ate.

Ashton raised his eyebrows, but he got the message, making a slight course adjustment to wash his hands at the sink. Niles let out a little sigh of relief and returned to drying dishes.

Seb was a sensitive, prickly little thing, and while he was plenty good at throwing back biting retorts in response to Ashton's gentle ribbing, Niles was worried that being teased on top of feeling sad might be too much for poor Seb, and he didn't want the young pixie to stop eating and leave in a huff just because Ashton looked at him funny.

Ashton finished at the sink and held his hand out to put away the dish that Niles was drying. "Hey, do you want to watch a movie tonight?" he asked Niles suddenly.

Out of the corner of his eye, Niles noticed Seb's pointed ears perk up, and he smiled.

"Sure," he responded, quickly picking up on Ashton's plan. "Got any suggestions?"

Ashton tapped his chin with a claw as he pretended to think. "Let's see, I was looking at either the new superhero movie or a recent ocean documentary."

"Oh, those are both good options," Niles mused. "I'm not too sure. Which do you prefer?"

He dried another plate and handed it to Ashton, noticing how Seb's wings were already buzzing with interest.

"I was thinking about the ocean documentary," Ashton said, also eyeing Seb. The pixie pursed his lips in disgust, which Niles knew Ashton was counting on.

"Maybe, but the other movie sounds good, too." Niles sighed and turned towards Seb, who was suddenly busying himself with finishing his dinner and acting like he couldn't care less about their conversation. "What do you think, Seb? Which one do you think would be better?"

Ashton leaned forward to look around Niles' shoulder at Seb. "Oh, hey Seb," he said brightly. "Sorry, I didn't even see you there."

Niles rolled his eyes, and the little thing bristled, puffing his wings out to make himself look bigger. It didn't work. "Yeah, well I wish I could say the same about you, you tree-like oaf," he responded, and Ashton laughed lightly.

"Guess I set myself up for that one," he said good-naturedly. "So, what do you think? You on my side? Want to watch the ocean documentary?"

"Of course not!" Seb burst out, all pretense of disinterest forgotten in the face of Ashton's insulting suggestion. "Why would you even consider a documentary when you have a perfectly good superhero movie?"

Niles nodded solemnly. "I think I might agree with Seb here," he said. "Sorry, Ash, but you're outnumbered on this one."

Ashton raised his eyebrows. "Not unless I put the documentary on first and then hide the remote," he said, heading towards the next room.

Seb gasped and leapt to his feet, making a truly spectacular dive off the counter and zooming past Ashton on his way to the living room.

Niles and Ashton grinned at each other, and Niles stood on his tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. "Thank you for taking care of our angry little guest," he whispered, and Ashton winked.

"You can thank me for that in a more creative way later, if you want," Ashton murmured, and Niles laughed.

"I'll come up with some ideas while you help Seb figure out the TV," Niles said, nudging him towards the living room where they could hear Seb kicking the remote in frustration.

After arguing with Ashton over who got to sit next to Niles (the little pixie eventually figured out that Niles could just sit in between them), they finally got Seb settled quietly on the couch.

Niles made everyone popcorn, which Seb crunched on happily. Ashton ate some too, but much less enthusiastically. He still didn't like the stuff.

As the movie went on, Seb slowly scooted closer to Niles until he was leaning against Niles' leg. Niles pretended not to notice, but eventually, he looked down to check on the pixie and was surprised to find that he had fallen asleep.

Niles nudged Ashton, who turned the TV volume down and looked over at him and Seb. "He asleep?" he asked, and Niles nodded.

"Figured that would happen." Ashton got up from the couch and knelt on the floor in front of Seb. "Think he'll wake up if we move him to a bed?" he wondered aloud, tilting his head to look up at Niles.

Niles shrugged. "I think most pixies are deep sleepers in general," he said. "You can try to move him if you want."

Ashton reached for the sleeping pixie, carefully slipping one hand underneath him and the other behind for support.

Seb shifted but stayed asleep, and Ashton straightened up to his full height. "Is Rylan around?" he whispered. "Or is Seb on his own?"

Niles shook his head. "Seb says he's out, and I doubt he'll be back tonight," he admitted.

"That's fine." Ashton tilted his head in the direction of their bedroom. "I'll put him in Lucy's old house, then," he said. "That way, he can wake us up if he needs anything."

Niles gave him a thumbs up. "Then I'll leave a note at their place in the garden," he offered. "In case Rylan comes back and is worried to find Seb gone."

***

While Niles went out to the garden, Ashton opened up Lucy's little faerie house and pulled back the blankets on the bed for Seb. He moved to place Seb on the sheets when the little pixie shifted and flung an arm over Ashton's fingers.

Ashton froze, and Seb sighed and hugged his fingers close. Ashton tried to move Seb's arms, but the little pixie only scowled in his sleep and clutched him tighter. So, Ashton gave up and sat back, waiting for the tiny thing's breathing to even back out.

As he waited, he studied Seb. He really was an odd little thing. He was tinier than any pixie Ashton had ever seen, and much grumpier. Ashton had never met a pixie like him before.

Actually, neither of the brothers were normal for pixies, as Rylan's calm spaciness and Seb's impatient brashness went against the cheeky playfulness so characteristic of most garden dwellers. Neither of the brothers were mischievous or social, which was strange for pixies.

Seb mumbled something, and Ashton stroked his hair softly to see if it would help him settle into a deeper sleep. Niles found him sitting on the floor a few minutes later, Seb still cupped in his hands.

"Can't put him down?" Niles chuckled, moving to sit beside him.

"Nope," Ashton answered with a sigh. "He's too restless. Every time I try to tuck him in, the little thing grabs onto my fingers."

Niles leaned his head against Ashton's shoulder and reached for Seb to gently rub the space between his wings.

"This calms down most faeries," Niles explained, and Ashton sat still and watched. "You always liked it when I rubbed your back, too. I'd do this every time you woke up from a bad dream."

Ashton nodded and leaned his own head against Niles'. "I remember," he said quietly.

Seb eventually settled, and his little body relaxed completely in Ashton's hand. Niles withdrew and sat up, moving his head off Ashton's shoulder. "There," he said. "You should be able to put him down now."

"Hmm." Ashton watched as Niles got up and moved to get ready for bed, taking his dark hair down from its usual half-up position and running his fingers through to smooth it out. 

He'd make such a good dad, Ashton thought, admiring his human. I really did find the best person to be my hokla.

Niles turned to look over his shoulder at Ashton. "You coming to bed, or what?" he asked, raising a slender eyebrow.

Ashton hurried to put Seb down, tucking the little pixie in carefully and closing the faerie house with a quiet click. "Yep. Be right there."

***

Niles yawned as Ashton finally got into bed beside him. "I can't believe Rylan is gone again," he murmured as they settled into their usual positions, Ashton's head on Niles' chest. "How does he not see how much Seb misses him?"

Seb clearly idolized his big brother, following him around in secret whenever Rylan was around. Unfortunately, Rylan was never that aware of his surroundings, so he never noticed his little brother. 

"He did just learn about Seb a little while ago," Ashton reminded Niles. "We can't expect him to suddenly be this super present older brother to Seb. Most pixies don't know a thing about caregiving."

Niles was quiet, thinking it over.

I mean... it's not like Rylan has ever had a role model to learn how to take care of someone, he thought, remembering that Rylan had been on his own since he was ten. So, it's pretty admirable that he wants to change that for his brother at least. But... with the way that Seb keeps coming up to me and Ashton... it's clear the little guy wants a consistent adult presence in his life. And Rylan's just not cutting it with his current behavior.

Niles opened his mouth to speak again when he looked down at Ashton and saw that he was already falling asleep against his chest. His eyes softened, and he couldn't help but raise a hand and softly run his fingers through Ashton's loose curls.

We aren't even hoklas yet, and here we are, suddenly raising a belligerent pixie child together, he mused. That certainly wasn't on my list of things I expected to do with my life.

But the more Niles thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't just not mind it... he actually liked it. Without even realizing it, he had grown to really like the grumpy kid, and he especially liked to watch Ashton interact with him.

Ashton was a natural with kids, and Seb was no exception. Niles figured that Seb would rather die than admit it, but he could tell that the little pixie liked the attention whenever Ashton teased him. And he especially liked to have an excuse to tell someone off.

I love this life we're building together, Niles realized. It's... so much brighter than what I had before.

He looked down at Ashton on his chest, the faerie rising and falling with his breaths. He always looked so peaceful when Niles held him like this, like this was his exact place in the world.

Maybe this is something that I can choose, Niles thought before he drifted off to sleep. Maybe I should just take that leap. 

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A/N: 

Niles' parenting style: warm, supportive, patient, gentle

Ashton's parenting style: being as annoying as humanly possible