Work Text:
He'd been best friends with Dimitri since they were ten, been to his house more times than he could count, and half of that since forming the Zookeepers was for babysitting jobs. He was more than used to the chaos, especially Dimitri's cousin/adoptive sister Juliet's endless energy and the tendency for her to invite the other neighborhood kids over anytime there were two sitters.
But more times than not, he found himself needing a reprieve from the noise.
"It's okay," Edelgard said as they left Juliet, Lily, Franz, and three other kids including Dedue's own sister in the living room playing video games while five-year-old William napped. "I live with them and even I find them overwhelming. Right now we're lucky Franz and Juliet are getting along."
"I would attribute that to Frederick," Dedue chuckled. "Somehow he always keeps Franz and Juliet from arguing too much."
"Franz doesn't want to embarrass her in front of her boyfriend," Edelgard said. "Either that, or the more people younger than him the more he feels the need to set a good example." If it was just him and Juliet, they could squabble for hours, and sometimes Lily could feel the need to bite back if he annoyed her, too.
"Perhaps a little of both." Dedue leaned against the back of the couch. They were currently in Lambert's office, which was off-limits to the younger kids but always open to Dimitri or Edelgard if they needed somewhere quiet to study or even just sit. "I'm just relieved they could find something to entertain themselves during this rain."
"Let's hope it lasts," Edelgard chuckled. "If they decide to play MarioKart, it could blow up in everyone's face. Lily may seem sweet and quiet, but the last time someone used the blue shell on her she wouldn't talk to them for a week."
"That hurt your feelings, didn't it," Dedue teased, causing Edelgard to huff.
"I don't play to lose. Surely she understood that." Dedue, who mostly played Harvest Moon and the Zelda series, still didn't understand how video games could generate that kind of childish drama. He'd heard the horror stories from Dimitri about Felix yelling at people on the internet about Pokémon, and Sylvain trying to justify using hacked Legendaries "for kicks".
At least the faint noises coming from the rec room were cheerful for now.
"Anyway!" Edelgard tossed a lock of hair over her shoulder. "It's almost time to walk Amyr, so we should do that before the kids get bored and hungry. We'll be in the kitchen setting up a smorgasbord soon enough." When you had multiple kids with different tastes, it was easier to just put a variety of food on the table and let the kids make their own lunches. Not that Dedue minded making a variety of sandwiches, but even the club's chefs needed a break now and then.
Amyr, thankfully, was one of those dogs who liked walking in the rain; the problem was getting her back inside after she'd done her business. By the time they did, Zoltan the cat was meowing at her dish and Juliet had taken out her ferret.
"He wants to play Pokémon Stadium with us," she said, even though the animal had no thumbs and didn't likely know what was even happening onscreen. But if it made Juliet happy he wasn't about to question it.
"You know what?" said Pauline von Vestra. "I think Dedue and Edelgard should play a round with us." Edelgard squeaked.
"Us? Now why would you want to play against two near-adults who could probably beat you easily?"
"Because Lily says you haven't played this game since you and my brother were ten years old," Pauline said, a bit smugly, and Dedue could smell a revenge scheme from miles away; he too knew how Lily Blaiddyd could hold a grudge. Edelgard bristled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I accept your challenge."
Lily grinned from her place on the couch next to Anaya, Juliet and Frederick wished they had some popcorn, and Franz looked supportively at his big sister.
"If you lose, I'll avenge you, El," he said. Edelgard sighed.
"Thank you, Franz. At least someone is on my side." She didn't even argue that she could win, Dedue noticed. She could be stubborn, but she knew better than to argue with pre-teens. When he got back from filling Zoltan's bowl the match had started, and Edelgard actually looked like she was having fun despite everything.
"So who will I be up against?" he asked, knowing it had been even longer since he himself had even touched the game. Last time, Sylvain had been blocked from hacking Bulldoze onto his Nidoking by Ingrid and Felix had gotten salty when his beloved Farfetch'd had proven useless.
Juliet grinned, showing off a gap from a recently-lost baby tooth.
"Me." She held up the ferret. "And I've got a fuzzy assistant, too." Dedue smiled a little.
"Go easy on me, Willy," he said, humoring the girl and offering his hand for the ferret to sniff. Juliet giggled.
"No promises."
They played three more rounds before the kids got hungry and it was time to fill the kitchen table with everything it could hold. Over a variety of different sandwiches and peanut butter snacks and leftover Chinese food, there was chatter and lots of it.
As someone who only got to experience this level of chaos during big family gatherings, Dedue welcomed the noise.