Melog’s ability to phase through walls while keeping them invisible was neat. And helpful, when Finn got bored and felt like causing some mischief. Their moms would be distracted in the kitchen making kissy faces at each other (they were not surprised that they were always like that) so Finn had a window to mess with their favorite uncle ever - he was cool and wouldn’t take it personally, right??
They were awake but barely, and they and Melog watched him with quiet amusement as they struggled to get out of the bed. Finn took a quick survey of the room to see what they could do and decided to start on the simple things.
Like pulling one of Adam’s drawers open and tossing all his underwear up into the air. Melog stood on their hindlegs so they could clap their front paws together in approval. Excellent plan, little one.
Adam didn’t necessarily love waking up early, but he did like his job on Defense, and he took his job as coordinator seriously. Even still, he could have easily used another hour or
so of rest, and he was groggy as he finally managed to roll out of bed.
He sat at the edge of his bed for a moment and rubbed the side of his head, yawning wide-mouthed, and then stood up and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
He was, in fact, nearly out of the door before, and might have missed the fact that his underwear were disgorging themselves from his drawer, if a pair of said underwear didn’t land on his head.
“Wha…” he murmured, grabbing it, and staring at it, and then he raised his eyes and looked at the rest of his room. What remaining sleep was still in his eyes dispersed.
“Uhm… Cringer?” Adam asked. “Do you know if Darla’s haunted?”
Cringer, even fonder of sleep than Adam, with no Defense responsibilities to get him up in the morning, was still laying at the end of Adam’s bed, and raised his head. He woke up a great deal sooner, jumping to his feet when he saw the flying underwear, hackles up.
“Gh– gh– gh– Ghost,” he cried, and went running into, and then out of, once it finished opening, Adam’s bedroom door.
Adam watched him go, frowning. “I don’t really know what I expected there,” he admitted aloud to himself.
Finn let out a cackle that lasted for two whole seconds. They slapped a hand over their mouth to shut themselves up - they didn’t want to give themselves away too soon but maybe it would add to the whole haunted ambiance Adam seemed to assume.
Which gave them a stroke of genius.
They pulled the blanket from the bed to drape over themselves - that is why their silhouette could take some visible form without giving away their identity - and waved their arms, letting out a dramatic OoooOoooooohh kind of noise. So spooky.
“Adaaaaaaaaaaam,” Finn sang his name, voice attempting to drop a few notches lower to sound super haunting. It really just sounded dumb. “I will only leeaaaaVVVEEeee you if you giiiiiive mEeeeEeee moOooneeeey!”
Well, that was a child’s voice if Adam ever heard one, but as far as he knew, there were no children who had the run of Darla. He had a few young friends, kids that he’d befriended at the farms while on patrol, or in his general day to day, but the idea of any of them coming to Darla and trying to haunt him was a stretch.
He crossed his arms, and gave the floating sheet a slightly puzzled frown. “What does a ghost need with money?” he asked. “Do you need a new pair of boots?”
For a few moments, Finn was stunned silent. Then they cackled.
“Uncle Adam!” they laughed, and Melog’s magic ebbed when Finn pulled the blanket from over the head to show themselves. Blonde hair, bright eyes, twitchy ears and a fang poking out from their upper lip. Catra’s genetics had dominated this one but when their smile was more Adora’s than anything. “That was really, really bad.”
Melog poked their head up too, visible to the eye and snickering happily.
The blanket fully dropped to their feet and they put their hands on their hips, chest puffed up proudly. “I’m Finn!”
Adam didn’t know the kid that suddenly materialized in his bedroom, but at the same time he did. He knew the smile, and the ears, the eyes. He beamed.
“Finn? As in the Finn?” Adam asked, clutching chest dramatically. “Well, this Halloween just keeps getting better and better. Your moms have told me all about you.” He knelt down, spread his arms. “Can I get a hug?”
Uncle Adam was, what their mommy called, a cheeseball. Finn liked that about them. He always had a way of making them laugh back in their normal spot in the timestream of things, and they weren’t surprised that remained true even before their birth.
“I’m kind of a big deal,” they expressed with a flair of drama, flipping their side swept bangs with a flourish of their hand. Attempts to look like a totally badass seven year old (small for their size, they got that from Catra) aside, they did leap at Adam for a hug. A big hug.
But they had ulterior motives.
“Can you convince mama to let me borrow the Sword of Protection for my costume tonight??? Or - can I use yours?”
Adam frowned thoughtfully. He didn’t know much about children, but he was pretty sure they weren’t supposed to play around with swords without adult supervision.
Then again, it wasn’t like Finn was going to be wandering around on Halloween on their own. He tapped his chin with his index finger, thinking about it.
“Have I ever lent you the Sword of Power before?” he asked.
There was a long pause there.
“Yes,” Finn eventually answered, trying to sound absolutely confident in their ability to pull one over on their uncle’s head but they also struggled with lying. Lying wasn’t… good, they knew that (and had gotten busted by mommy earlier in the kitchen)but they also just really wanted an actual sword to hold and it wasn’t fair. They were practically a teenager.
(They were seven.)
“No?” they winced. Then sighed. “It’s like no one on this ship trusts me!”
Adam frowned, a little disappointed, for a moment, that they’d lie to him, but it didn’t last long. In the end, they’d come clean, without Adam even having to say anything, so he just shot Finn a bright smile instead.
“That’s not true,” he said. “You might be a little small for the Sword right now, but you’ll grow taller and then I’m sure I’ll let you use it.” He couldn’t say for sure, of course, but given the fact that he’d been fully willing to hand it over even when the sword was as long as Finn was tall, he was pretty sure it was likely true. As far as Adam was concerned, children were perfectly capable of handling weaponry and fighting bad guys. “But hey, how about in the meantime, you and I make a sword for tonight? We’ve got lots of time, and I bet between the two of us, we could make a pretty cool looking one out of cardboard.”
Finn looked so hopeful there for a moment when it came to what they, originally, assumed would be some kind of pep talk about eventually using any sword, and then - Uncle Adam said cardboard.
They groaned.
“Mama said rubber at first,” they pouted, and somehow managed to haggle up to at least a wooden sword. If a monster showed up they’d definitely be able to whack at it hard! “They’re getting me wood instead.”
“Wood’s good too,” Adam concurred, nodding. “I’m not much of a woodworker, so I didn’t think we’d be able to make a wooden sword by tonight, but if they’re going to get you one, then that’s even better. You know, I used to practice with a wooden sword when I was younger. I could show you a few moves if you wanted.”
Finn cocked their head to the side, thinking that over. It didn’t take long for them to shrug, nor for the pout to become a broad grin. “Cool! Moms ordered breakfast for us downstairs and after that we should definitely go shopping for one. Don’t tell mama I said this, but…”
They looked to the left. Then to the right. Then they leaned in closer to Adam, a hand shielding their mouth. “You’re better at sword fighting than she is.”
Would they ever say it in front of her? No. They had seen their mom and uncle get competitive over weird stuff back home and Finn didn’t need to see it at this point in the timeline either.
Adam beamed. The urge to go down and tell Adora right now that Finn thought he was the better swordfighter, but he managed to push down the urge. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell her.” At least, he wouldn’t tell her when Finn was around. Who knew what would happen in the future. “But great. We’ll pick out the best wooden sword there is, just watch.”
“If you don’t,” Finn started gravely, suddenly getting so serious it was almost scary. “It’s child abuse.”
Give or take a few passing seconds and they switched back into that grin. They swiped Adam’s hands into theirs, eager to drag them along. Melog would follow along dutifully. “Just kidding! Let’s go! And - mommy’s eating hot wings for breakfast, okay? You can’t judge her for that. Oh! … I need to say sorry to Cringer for scaring him, right?”
Poor dude.
Adam suppressed a shiver. This kid was going to be trouble when they showed up, Adam could feel it. But then, Adam had been trouble growing up too (and even into his adulthood. It was only a few years ago when he drove the Zoom Chariot through the throne room wall because his dad had been giving him a hard time about always being late. He made a mental note to not let Finn drive until they were at least twenty.
“Cringer would appreciate the apology,” Adam said, relaxing once Finn was smiling again. “And I promise not to say a word about your mom eating hot wings.” Catra’s diet had been weird enough lately that hot wings for breakfast seemed almost normal, frankly.
He let himself be dragged out of the room. Frankly, this kid was cute enough that they could drag Adam just about anywhere, and Adam would happily go along.