Silhouette

"Hey kids, I'm home!"

"Hi, Dad!"

While they weren't easy to see, James' human form did feature lips, lips that were presently curved in a smile. His children were grouped up on the couch, watching TV. Well, they were watching a streaming service program on the TV, since apparently the current Captain Cyan run on TV was a cheap reboot and far inferior to the show the kids had begun to watch on his phone back in the sewers. They still planned to watch the reboot at some point, but they'd finish watching the entirety of the original run, the remakes, and the reboots that had been made before.

James was well aware he'd probably never get to use that TV himself. He had a feeling it might even gain a permanent blue tint.

Still, he couldn't help but sneakily take a picture of the bundle of fluff. Even David's smile lacked his usual edge, looking just as innocent as Blanche's or Froudre's. Goliath was in a league of his own, of course, and Lucille... Well, her eyes looked happy, even if the rest of her face didn't follow. They had already seen a doctor when he had to get their sapience and citizenship registered, but he was increasingly considering having her checked to make sure she didn't have some form of facial paralysis. Sure, she was far more mature than the rest of the siblings, but it was a little worrying. Not that there was anything wrong if she was just a naturally non-expressive person, but he'd rather be sure.

"So, what's today's plot?"

"Red Revenant wants to take over the city by pouring mind-altering drugs in the water supply. Captain Cyan is confronting him at Blue Bridge for an epic battle!"

"What my darling sister Foudre failed to mention, Papa, is that the sidekicks are having their own great confrontation with Revenant's latest henchmen in the water plant."

"Uh. Didn't they already do this the other day?"

"Red Revenant is quite fond of mental influences and sabotaging public infrastructure, Father."

"And for some reason, he hates Blue Bridge!"

"An astute addition, Goliath."

"Thanks, Lucille!"

"Won't you idiots shut up?! I'm trying to watch the show here!"

"David, don't be mean to your siblings. But don't worry, we can stay quiet. I've had an eventful day, some calm is very welcome."

The smallest ratling's whiskers twitched. James knew he had him hooked. Bloodthirsty as he was, he couldn't resist the temptation of what an eventful day would be for his father, knowing full well his line of work.

"Alright, what the hell did you do, old man? Got into another fight?"

"In a sense. Though this time, I wasn't the one who got into trouble or got attacked."

"Uh? So why did you fight then?"

"Someone hired Silhouette for an odd job. As it turned out, a brawl happened."

"Come on. The details, old man!"

"Alright, alright. Doctor Bones, an archaeologist, needed Silhouette's help opening a door in some ancient ruins she was exploring."

"Oooh, ancient ruins! Did you go through traps, Daddy?"

"No, Doctor Bones and her team had already disarmed them. They had gone through the entire ruins except for the one room they just couldn't open. And that's where Silhouette came in."

"What was in the room, Dad? Treasures? Ancient weapons? A mummy?"

"A mummy. One who had a bone to pick with us."

Goliath gasped in awe while David merely groaned at the pun. The girls, for their part, were listening quietly, waiting for the rest of the story.

"Alright, old man, how did you kill the thing?"

"Silhouette allied with Doctor Bones' mercenaries to take down the rogue undead."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. So, how did Silhouette kill the thing, then? Undead are supposed to be hard to deal with, no?"

"That they are. Especially if it is a lich, like in our little story. Thankfully for the protagonists and sadly for your excitement, the undead's mental faculties had deteriorated. The holy man of the team easily dispelled its curses while the armed soldier distracted it. Silhouette made sure to redirect the stronger attacks away while preparing to end the fight in a single strike. He chained and froze the mummy with shadows when it lowered its guard after a particularly powerful spell."

"Oh, does that mean Silhouette has a new employee, Papa?"

"As per Doctor Bones and her team's wishes, Silhouette worked alongside the holy man to put the lost soul to rest. So, no, no new employee on the team. To be fair, I'm not sure even his little procedures could have fixed what was wrong with the undead's mind. It, uhm... Well, it didn't have much of a head left. And I mean that in both ways."

"Oh. Oooh. Sounds messy, Dad."

"Well, luckily, when everything's this old, there's less to be grossed out by. A fresher undead would have been far more unpleasant. Downright disgusting. As it was, it was too dry for that kind of gore."

"Your story's kinda disappointing, old man. I expected an epic battle, not putting down the elderly."

"Well, according to Doctor Bones' preliminary observations of the body's reconstitution, our undead friend was quite young when it died."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Dead age is still age. If the thing's wrinkly and losing its mind, then it's a fossil, whether the heart is still beating or not."

"That's harsh, David. I'm not sure your ghostly friends down in the basement would appreciate it. What would Trixie say?"

"You're not contradicting me."

"Because I do somewhat agree with the sentiment, if not the way of expressing it. Seriously, son, work on your aggression. I can schedule a meeting with a therapist if you want. I don't mind you having a bit of an edge, I'm just worried that antagonizing people could become your sole way of socializing. That and violence."

"Oh, come on, old man! Goliath can be a cuddly teddy bear with no survival instinct, and Lucille a drill sergeant, but I can't have some sass?!"

"That's not what I said, and you know it. And I do agree those are matters that need to be handled as well, but they aren't as urgent as your temper. Goliath can defend himself, and Lucille's exaggerated seriousness is only a problem when it comes to socializing at the moment. You're the only one I'm worried could get into trouble shortly."

The youngest of the ratlings scoffed at his remark. James sighed as he shapeshifted out of his clothes to sit next to his son without moving the rest of his children off the couch, his shadowy body slimming down to fit it.

"Look, I'm not asking you to become the perfect little boy. That'd go against who you are. I just want you to stop being so quick to be mean."

"Oh, come on! I'm not a monster!"

"I agree. When it comes to your acts, you're not. Well, you have perhaps a little too much fun hurting things when hunting, but you play nice when it comes to other people otherwise. But words can hurt, too. Your siblings and I know that's just how you express yourself, but others? Imagine you accidentally hurt a friend because you just lashed out when you got annoyed."

"I'll let you know my friends love me for who I am."

It was at this point Foudre butted in.

"Your friend's an orc who loves fighting and killing stuff as much as you."

"Yeah, and? That doesn't change a thing."

James sighed again. He formed tendrils to pet all the kids on the head, and even the grumbling David couldn't help but lean into his touch.

"I just want you to be careful, David. I know you've already made a lot of efforts, and you're doing far better now than you used to. But it's a dad's job to worry about these things, you know? As I've said, I know you'll always have an attitude, and there's no changing that. I just want to be sure it won't get you in trouble."

"Hmph."

"I'm sorry if I made you feel I didn't trust you. I do. You know I'm counting on you to keep your siblings safe. Here, let me apologize. I want you to be more careful with your words, it's only fair that I do the same. I'm sorry for diminishing your progress and underestimating your social skills."

The small rat glared at him before looking away, groaning as he focused back on the TV.

"Fine. I forgive you, old man. I know you're just a bumbling mess of nerves. It's not surprising if you're dumb sometimes."

"Ah! I can't say I didn't deserve that one. Tell you what. When it comes time for your siblings' interventions, you can help me."

"For real?"

"For real."

"I still fail to see the problem with my behavior, Father. I can understand the concern for Goliath's safety that his overwhelming innocence poses, but..."

Lucille's defense was cut short by her oldest brother's shout.

"I don't see how being nice is bad, Daddy!"

"It's not about you being nice, Goliath. It's about people taking advantage of you. But don't worry, this is a talk we can save for another time. Let's go back to watching Captain Cyan now, alright?"

"Yeah!"

James chuckled. There, nestled in the fluff of his children, he truly felt at home.

Even if he missed his old one.

In the end, they watched Captain Cyan episodes for an hour together until James had to get up and start preparing dinner. He also has the kids turn off the TV and start doing their homework. They were still new to school, and they had a lot of years of education to catch up on. Their professor, Mr. Pteryx, had been nice enough to provide simplified lessons for them to learn the basics as quickly as possible, but he had made clear they would still need to do some work to truly learn as much as their friends had. This included extra homework. They didn't have a deadline for it, but the sooner they were done with it, the sooner they'd be up to speed.

James' new body made cooking a fun affair. Being able to create as many limbs as he wanted, focus on multiple things at once, have global perception, and finally, magic powers combined to create a chef who could prepare normally complex and long meals in record time. Well, he couldn't do much about things like oven time and such, even if he could create his own heat he couldn't will ingredients to cook faster, and simply raising the heat wasn't a solution. Otherwise, yes, magical powers and an eldritch shadow body had led him to vastly improve his cooking.

Tonight's dinner? Something simple. A few quiches, with different ingredients to accommodate the ratlings' various preferences. Not to the point they each had a quiche, of course, but they all had at least three different slices on their plates. Small slices. Whatever gave them sapience also gave them the appetite of a full human despite their relatively small size, but three large slices would still be a lot. If they were still hungry, they could take seconds afterward. The leftovers would be eaten in two days, so they could have a different dinner before then. Or he could donate them to the employees of the Penumbral Palace. He'd have to see when the kids were done eating. If they weren't fond of the recipes, no need to force them/

Sadly, eating was one of those things James couldn't do anymore. He had no stomach, for one. Yes, he could shapeshift one, do the entire digestive track even, fill the cavity with magical darkness acid to digest stuff too. The problem is that it wouldn't truly be eating, and even then, he wouldn't taste a thing. He had been thankful for his lack of taste when he first came to and wandered the sewers, especially since his body perceived everything from every point, but now that he was no longer forced into a disgusting environment and instead free to stay in a cozy home, he truly felt the weight of this loss.

But just because he couldn't eat didn't mean he wasn't around for dinner. He sat at the table all the same, watching his kids bicker between mouthfuls. Everyone talked about their day, their friends, what they planned to do tomorrow... It was lovely.

James noticed his most serious daughter exchanging a look with his bloodthirsty son, the two having a silent conversation that intrigued him. Still, he held his metaphorical tongue, preferring to see what they would do next.

"Father? There was something I wished to discuss."

"Go ahead, Lucille."

"We have been talking, and we were wondering... Well, while this life on the surface has been pleasant and instructive, it has been quite some time since we last trained properly."

"I see."

"Do not misunderstand, Father, we are quite happy here. But..."

"What she's trying to say is she misses fighting stuff."

"David!"

"What? We all do. We all want to be Heroes. And right now? We're becoming civilians."

James cleared his non-existent throat.

"While I have my concerns about your choice of career, I would never get in your way. I want you to focus on school and making new friends at the moment, but if you truly miss training that much, I could see with Mischief to have a new underground area for you to play in set up nearby. It wouldn't be too close. We have to make sure no one can connect it to this location. That being said, it should be manageable. We already have a tunnel network, adding a few extra rooms shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you, Father."

"I just want you all to remember that training isn't your priority. Yes, you all are powerful and wonderful, but I want you to have normal lives ready before you can start your Super ones. Also, you will have to call me when you go train and when you finish. Well, a call or a text. I need to coordinate with Mischief, and I want to know where you are in case of emergency."

"Of course, Father."

"Splendid. I won't be able to join in as much as before, but I'll still pop in from time to time, to give you kids a good challenge."

David grinned.

"We're counting on it, old man."