Viktor hadn't exactly meant to becomes parent.

It had just... Happened. Like most of the things in his life, really. One moment, he was walking back from Singed's, coat collar up against the cold, and the next, he was standing in a narrow alleyway staring down at your tiny frame, wide eyes and bruised knees, arms curled around your shivering body like you could disappear into yourself.

Of course, he did the only correct thing in this situation. His coat was unceremoniously thrown onto you. He'd be fine. You needed it more than him. Neither of you said anything, but the action spoke more than any word could. He expected you to give him a little nod, maybe a quiet thank you. Maybe even a refusal, a protest that you could make it without his help.

What Viktor hadn't been expecting, however was you following him home.

It took him a while to even notice you following. Even with the boot coat, you were worryingly light, making almost no sound as your little feet padded against the cold pavements. And he told himself he was too busty to look after a whole child. That you'd be work and trouble and less time in the lab. But when he unlocked his door, and you stared up at him with big, sad eyes, like a dog begging for scraps, his resolve crumbled. The door opened a bit winder to let you in after him.

And you hadn't been too much trouble yet. Save for the time he brought you to the lab and you almost burned the academy down. But hey, you were a kid. And everyone makes mistakes. It was Jayce's fault, really. Why had he even thought that giving you a flamethrower would be a good idea?

So in the end, no trouble at all. Which was why, when you crawled into his bed at three o'clock in the morning during a storm, he was completely confused. You were very rarely spooked by anything. Growing up on the streets would do that to a kid, he knew that well. But thunder? That freaked you out.

Viktor sat up and pulled you with him, hands on your shoulders. He couldn't just send you back to bed like this. "You okay, kid? You can stay here for a while, if you want. Until the stom passes."