Ultraman Zero birthday ficlet
Dec. 12th, 2022 09:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameSo it's Ultraman Zero's 13th anniversary today, during his dad's 55th anniversary celebration, so I decided to put words to a fragment of a thing drunkenpandaren and I talked about a little while ago. It's not going up on AO3 yet, since it's in the future compared to the fic I'm actually working on, so I'm not ready to get there yet. But enjoy.
The very first thing Zero put up, when he moved into his new room, was a set of five worn plush dolls, on a shelf across from his bed.
“What are those?” Seven asked, seeing the care his son handled them with.
“Huh? Oh, uh…”
As if embarrassed at being caught with some semblance of a normal childhood, Zero fidgeted for a moment before admitting, “Okay, so…when I was little, there was…well, they made Ultra Brothers dolls.”
Seven was stunned for a moment, watching as Zero tried not to make eye contact. It was a little uncomfortable sometimes, his celebrity status in the Land of Light as well as on Earth, but without another name and face to hide behind. He knew that children looked up to him, and that Zero had as well when he was younger. But merchandising seemed a bit much.
How much of that discomfort came from the intrusion on his privacy, though, and how much came from knowing his one and only son had owned one of these dolls, played with it, gone to bed with it, all without knowing his connection to the real thing.
“I didn’t see these when we packed everything,” Seven admitted, trying to get Zero to open up again. “I didn’t see any of your toys.”
“I hid them,” Zero confessed, going over to his old book bag and opening the flap. At first, Seven didn’t see anything, but then Zero pulled out a false bottom, revealing a hiding place that would have fit them perfectly.
“That’s clever,” Seven said, unsure whether or not he should ask why Zero felt the need to hide his toys. Deciding to try to ease away from that line of questioning, he said, “So they made dolls of us?”
“Only the original six,” Zero said. “I had to save up forever to buy them all, though.”
The dolls were very well-loved, with stains and wear from years of playtimes, and misshapen lumps in their stuffing from many hugs. One by one, Zero took them off the shelf and pointed them out.
“This one’s Zoffy. You can kind of see his star marks, but they’re mostly faded now. And Ultraman here—I got him first—he needs a new color timer. It fell off when Mom made me wash him. I think I was digging in the dirt with him? All I remember is that when I said he lost his color timer, she told me I’d lose mine the same way if I got that dirty ever again. Oh, and this one’s you—sorry if your Eye Slugger’s a little crooked; it’s kind of a tight fit in the bag. Here’s Jack, but you really can’t tell him apart from Zoffy now, unless you look at the bracelet. And Taro’s horns look a little funny because the same thing happened like with your Eye Slugger.”
The awkward moments where he pivoted away from less pleasant childhood memories aside, it was cute getting to see Zero act like a kid. Maybe more precious because of those memories he tried not to discuss. Hopefully, now that they were living together, Seven could help him make up for some of those lost moments.
“You’ve taken good care of these,” he insisted. “But I don’t see Ace—where did you pack that one?”
Now, Zero gave in and cringed, admitting, “I lost him. At the park, once. I used to take these guys everywhere. I’d go to the park after school and pretend we were on adventures. I mean, I didn’t really have a lot of friends, so it was kind of the next best thing. I thought I put them all back in my book bag, but when I got home, he wasn’t there. I tried to go back to look for him, but I didn’t want to tell Mom I took my toys to school and lost one. So I tried to check the park before school…”
“But by then, it was gone,” Seven realized.
Zero nodded. “I looked everywhere, asked everyone, but he never turned up. Or if he did, no one told me. So after that, I kind of just tried to keep them safe, so I wouldn’t lose any more of them.”
It had been many years ago, but it was clear that it still hurt Zero a little, to lose something he’d worked hard for and loved so much.
Before Seven knew it, a plan began to form. He would need to reach out for help, but being a household name might make things more difficult, so he would have to figure out some way to remain anonymous. As far as price, he wasn’t willing to put a limit on the budget. Zero’s happiness was worth far more.
drunkenpandaren and I talked about a little while ago. It's not going up on AO3 yet, since it's in the future compared to the fic I'm actually working on, so I'm not ready to get there yet. But enjoy.The very first thing Zero put up, when he moved into his new room, was a set of five worn plush dolls, on a shelf across from his bed.
“What are those?” Seven asked, seeing the care his son handled them with.
“Huh? Oh, uh…”
As if embarrassed at being caught with some semblance of a normal childhood, Zero fidgeted for a moment before admitting, “Okay, so…when I was little, there was…well, they made Ultra Brothers dolls.”
Seven was stunned for a moment, watching as Zero tried not to make eye contact. It was a little uncomfortable sometimes, his celebrity status in the Land of Light as well as on Earth, but without another name and face to hide behind. He knew that children looked up to him, and that Zero had as well when he was younger. But merchandising seemed a bit much.
How much of that discomfort came from the intrusion on his privacy, though, and how much came from knowing his one and only son had owned one of these dolls, played with it, gone to bed with it, all without knowing his connection to the real thing.
“I didn’t see these when we packed everything,” Seven admitted, trying to get Zero to open up again. “I didn’t see any of your toys.”
“I hid them,” Zero confessed, going over to his old book bag and opening the flap. At first, Seven didn’t see anything, but then Zero pulled out a false bottom, revealing a hiding place that would have fit them perfectly.
“That’s clever,” Seven said, unsure whether or not he should ask why Zero felt the need to hide his toys. Deciding to try to ease away from that line of questioning, he said, “So they made dolls of us?”
“Only the original six,” Zero said. “I had to save up forever to buy them all, though.”
The dolls were very well-loved, with stains and wear from years of playtimes, and misshapen lumps in their stuffing from many hugs. One by one, Zero took them off the shelf and pointed them out.
“This one’s Zoffy. You can kind of see his star marks, but they’re mostly faded now. And Ultraman here—I got him first—he needs a new color timer. It fell off when Mom made me wash him. I think I was digging in the dirt with him? All I remember is that when I said he lost his color timer, she told me I’d lose mine the same way if I got that dirty ever again. Oh, and this one’s you—sorry if your Eye Slugger’s a little crooked; it’s kind of a tight fit in the bag. Here’s Jack, but you really can’t tell him apart from Zoffy now, unless you look at the bracelet. And Taro’s horns look a little funny because the same thing happened like with your Eye Slugger.”
The awkward moments where he pivoted away from less pleasant childhood memories aside, it was cute getting to see Zero act like a kid. Maybe more precious because of those memories he tried not to discuss. Hopefully, now that they were living together, Seven could help him make up for some of those lost moments.
“You’ve taken good care of these,” he insisted. “But I don’t see Ace—where did you pack that one?”
Now, Zero gave in and cringed, admitting, “I lost him. At the park, once. I used to take these guys everywhere. I’d go to the park after school and pretend we were on adventures. I mean, I didn’t really have a lot of friends, so it was kind of the next best thing. I thought I put them all back in my book bag, but when I got home, he wasn’t there. I tried to go back to look for him, but I didn’t want to tell Mom I took my toys to school and lost one. So I tried to check the park before school…”
“But by then, it was gone,” Seven realized.
Zero nodded. “I looked everywhere, asked everyone, but he never turned up. Or if he did, no one told me. So after that, I kind of just tried to keep them safe, so I wouldn’t lose any more of them.”
It had been many years ago, but it was clear that it still hurt Zero a little, to lose something he’d worked hard for and loved so much.
Before Seven knew it, a plan began to form. He would need to reach out for help, but being a household name might make things more difficult, so he would have to figure out some way to remain anonymous. As far as price, he wasn’t willing to put a limit on the budget. Zero’s happiness was worth far more.