The house was still.
It was the kind of stillness that only settled after the weight of day had bled out—after the dishwasher hummed to silence, after the last notification had blinked across a darkened screen, after the world had shrunk down to the private geometry of shadows and light.
Dayton stood just outside the living room, arms crossed, folder pressed to her chest like it might burn a hole through her shirt. The television was off. Her mother sat curled into the corner of the couch in her threadbare sleep shirt, one leg hooked under the other, her hair down, her face bare of its usual restraint. For a moment, she didn’t look like a gatekeeper. She looked like a woman who’d stopped believing she could ever rest.
“Is that it?” her mother asked without turning.
Dayton nodded, then caught herself. “Yes. It’s all here.”
She stepped forward and set the folder gently on the coffee table, the weight of it more psychological than paper should allow. Her mother didn’t reach for it. Not yet. She stared at it like it was a bomb she had to decide whether to disarm or detonate.
Dayton didn’t sit.
Her mother reached out, lifted the cover, and flipped past the forms without pause—ownership claim application, housing verification, preliminary behavior plan. Her fingers moved with the speed of someone who knew what bureaucracy looked like, who had read thousands of forms in her life and found nothing in them worth her attention.
Then she found the letter.
She held it delicately, like it might tear from the wrong glance. Her thumb traced the edge of the page, and she read it in silence.
The clock on the wall ticked.
Dayton’s throat tightened with each second that passed.
Her mother’s eyes didn’t move fast. She read like she was weighing every word on a scale, then comparing the total to something only she could measure.
When she reached the end, she didn’t speak. She didn’t look up. She let the letter rest on her knee and stared at it as if the ink had rearranged itself into something new. Something offensive. Or true.
“Did anyone help you write this?” she asked, finally.
“No.”
“No edits? No suggestions?”
“I wrote it alone.”
Her mother nodded faintly, like she’d expected as much. She tapped the letter once with a fingernail, a soft staccato beat. Then she looked up.
“You used the word ‘delusion’ three times.”
Dayton straightened. “Because that’s what it is.”
“No,” her mother said. “It’s what you need it to be.”
Dayton felt the flare of heat rise to her cheeks. “He’s unclaimed. Teaching. Pretending to be one of us.”
“And you think that pretending is dangerous.”
“I know it is.”
Her mother tilted her head. “Then tell me why you sound like you’re writing about a stray dog instead of a person.”
Dayton’s voice cracked like glass. “Because he’s not a person.”
Silence spread between them like ink in water.
Her mother leaned forward and set the letter gently back on the table. “You believe that?”
“With everything I have.”
“And you think that makes it okay.”
“What’s okay is giving him the structure he’s missing. What’s okay is claiming someone who’s otherwise unprotected. What’s okay is keeping him from humiliating himself and hurting others by pretending he still matters.”
Her mother’s expression was unreadable. “That letter doesn’t sound like protection.”
“It is.”
“It sounds like possession.”
Dayton’s fists clenched at her sides. “He embarrassed me. In front of the whole class. He undermined me. Called me by my first name. Smirked at me when I asked him to address me as Miss Harris. He treats everyone like they’re beneath him. Like I’m beneath him.”
“And you want to flip the dynamic.”
“No,” Dayton growled. “I want to correct it.”
Her mother folded her arms, her tone cool. “You want him on a leash.”
“No, but he deserves to be on a leash.”
Her mother stared at her.
“And if he resists?”
“I train him.”
“If he cries?”
“I comfort him.”
“If he hates you?”
“I don’t need his love. I need his obedience.”
Her mother exhaled a long, tired breath, leaned back against the cushions. “Do you even hear yourself?”
“Yes,” Dayton snapped. “And I like the sound of it.”
“Do you?”
Dayton opened her mouth, then paused. Because beneath all her convictions, a part of her did wonder. Not about the truth, she knew that like gospel, but about whether her mother would ever accept that she belonged in this role. Not later. Not when she was older. Now.
“Do you remember the dog?” her mother said softly.
Dayton blinked. “What?”
“The golden retriever we had when you were five. Daisy.”
Dayton hesitated. “Yes.”
“You used to walk her up and down the backyard. Made her wear a bow you picked out at the dollar store.”
“I remember.”
“She bit you once.”
“She was scared.”
“She was cornered.”
Her mother’s voice was quiet now. Not angry. Not cruel. Just bare. “And you cried, and I told you it wasn’t her fault. But you still stopped walking her. You stopped going near her. You decided she wasn’t your pet anymore.”
“That was different.”
“Was it?”
Dayton stepped forward. “I’m not five anymore.”
“No. Now you want a collar instead of a bow.”
Dayton’s voice softened but didn’t lose its edge. “You think I’m too young. That’s fine. But age doesn’t change truth. He’s infected. He’s been reclassified. He’s not a person. He’s a domesticated dependent who’s dangerous only because no one has corrected his behavior. He has no collar, Lives without a guardian. THe district doesnt have him in a legal setup. They didnt follow protocols. This whole thing is wrong and if I send this letter SEA will correct the district and then I can correct Mr. Rhys.”
Her mother picked up the letter again, looked at it one last time, then folded it in half and slid it back into the folder.
Then she stood.
“You’ll get your answer in the morning.”
Dayton’s eyes widened. “You’re not deciding now?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I need to sleep on whether my daughter wants to be a Guardian, or a god.”
She walked past Dayton and out of the room without another word.
Dayton stood frozen, the folder still sitting on the coffee table, its corners sharp and accusing under the lamp’s low glow. She didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Didn’t blink.
Only listened, to the creak of floorboards upstairs. The distant hiss of running water in the bathroom. The slow breath of a house caught in the space between decision and fallout.
She didn’t know if her mother would sign.
But the letter was written.
And the words had power.
And she, Dayton Harris, was ready to use them.
“Because I need to sleep on whether my daughter wants to be a Guardian, or a god.”
oh we all know the answer lmao
Dayton will be her moms god when her mom becomes a little lol
making pic and vid now lol
Dayton is an upstanding citzen a beacon of morality and justness. lol
See, Asuka gets Dayton’s awesomeness lol.
I feel so much joy knowing that Dayton beliefs are and ideas for this whole thing are blowing up in her face so fast and hard that it will wake her up to the truth of the matter
I still don’t like her mother but she seems to be the more level headed and overall better of the two at this moment and clearly sees the danger that is coming from her daughter at this moment
The Daisy reveal seems really revealing here and I love the comparison here
Well you have kind of two sides. Dayton views littles more as people then her mother does. Mrs. harris doesnt view littles as people. She doesnt even care for littles in the slightest.
They both have pros adn cons depending on where you sit.
I’ll take Mrs Harris answer as a no. Because in her mind she doesn’t feel Dayton is ready to be a Guardian.
However, Dayton will find another way to get a little.
Dayton like life, find a way as you say.
I read this in goldblums voice
that was intention but i couldnt remember his name. so thank you.
Guardian or a God! Now that was powerful! Fuck you dayton!
I enjoy the idea of giving one power hungry person to another power hungry person via smallara as a good entertaining kARMA lesson lol.
I love the level of hate dayton has here. Shes only 13 yet based on the comments she is one of the most hated people on the planet.
We know Dayton! We’ve seen her when she’s unchecked 🤣🤣
0)Just realised this is our second time actually seeing Dayton’s mother in an Image.
1) “Did anyone help you write this?” “No.” “No edits? No suggestions?” “I wrote it alone.” Would that really have disqualified her?
2) “You used the word ‘delusion’ three times.” “Because that’s what it is.” “No, it’s what you need it to be.” Mrs Harris calling her daughter out was not on my bingo card
3) “Then tell me why you sound like you’re writing about a stray dog instead of a person.” Why do you care? You don’t think they’re people.
4) “That letter doesn’t sound like protection. It sounds like possession.” Sounds like this is leading up to a rejection
5.1) “He embarrassed me. In front of the whole class. He undermined me.” No, Dayton, you were trying to do that to him; he just didn’t let you, which is not the same as him doing it to you.
5.2) “Called me by my first name. Smirked at me when I asked him to address me as Miss Harris,” which is the normal way for a Little to address a guardian
5.3) “He treats everyone like they’re beneath him. Like I’m beneath him.” He treats his students like they’re his students
6) “If he hates you?” “I don’t need his love. I need his obedience.” That right there’s what you call one of them red flags, this is not the start of a healthy Guardian/Little relationship
7) “Dayton opened her mouth, then paused. Because beneath all her convictions, a part of her did wonder. Not about the truth, she knew that like gospel, but about whether her mother would ever accept that she belonged in this role” Well, it;s very clear her mother wouldn’t mind letting Littles go extinct, So I don’t think it should be a surprise if she just blocks Dayton being a guardian
8) “She bit you once.” Good dog. (Ok, that one was mean even for me, lol)
9) “You stopped going near her. You decided she wasn’t your pet anymore.” “That was different.” “Was it?” I see where Mrs Harris is getting at, and support any argument that keeps Dayton away from owning a Little… but Dayton was five, surely she’d have more resilience now, plus how hard can Littles bite anyway?
10) “The district doesn’t have him in a legal setup. They didn’t follow protocols. This whole thing is wrong, and if I send this letter, SEA will correct the district “You don’t know that, for all you know, the district has worked with SEA to ensure all of this is set up in a legally compliant manner.
11) “Because I need to sleep on whether my daughter wants to be a Guardian, or a god.” Both
12) “But the letter was written. And the words had power. And she, Dayton Harris, was ready to use them.” and may the consequences flow when she does.
12) “I will as many lifes as possible so long as yours is one of them!” Dayton, probably, idk
0) Mrs Harris hasnt had much screen time in comparison to others.
1) Her mom wanted it in Daytons words. Not someone elses. So it would have mattered to Mrs. Harris but to anyone else no.
2) gotta keep you on your toes.
3) she didnt say she cared if she does or doesnt. But mroe wants to know in the realm of the discussion they are having on Dayton getting a little.
4) I feel like you will throw a parade in Mrs. Harris’s honor if she rejections Dayton’s proposal.
5) fair point. Although i do think her reaction wasn’t completely out of line. A little teacher would be shocking for most.
5.2) Yeah, he didnt do anything wrong but he also was purposefully trying to throw his weight around for no reason. Out of all things Dayton could request of a little this was one of hte most tame things she has ever requested
5.3) That one would bea bit of a intresting dilemma though. As a little they would be above him, but he holds power over them.
6) She is honest though. I feel like dayton was in a no win situation in your eyes. As if she doesnt say that you would call he out for lying and how lying looks bad for her ownership case but by telling the truth you fault her for stance.
7) Mrs. harris doesnt have love less for littles. Even sara knew to keep jordy in h rpocket that first encounter when seh was babysitting.
8) you knwo its bad when you are taking a step and being like “whoa that dayton hate was to far”
9) her being 5 is a huge point in that. She would react differently now. She has matured
10) well at this point you know that not true as there is no scenario where SEA would condone the violation of the collaring law. Its a federal law and no federal organization is goign to okay the breaking of federal law.
11) Her mom is a bit reaching. I agree that dayton may not be ideal candidate but most of her arguments are based on factual knowledge
12) She loses a rhys but gains a lethal.lol but out curiousity, If you had to pair dayton up with a little. what little excluding cindy wessen as thats the easy answer would it be?Im just curious who you would sentence. It has to be someone who is a little. so you cant asomeone who is immune a little.
0) fair,
3) I see.
4) maybe, it’d be called The Parade of Broken Clocks
5.2) not for no reason, she was throwing her weight around and he made it clear that wasn’t going to fly (or tried to)
6) Honesty is better than lying about it. But if someone confesses to a murder, people don’t forgive just because that’s better than lying about it.
7) he was being punished for telling her “no” not sure that counts as protection.
8) yeah, she’s a monster, not me.
10) well, the collar Law gives a one month grace period as we learned in Chrissy, he could easily be in that.
12) Charity, but that feels too easy aswell. So Christine Daniels, from what we saw she’d see Dayton’s abuse as the lesser of two evils.
Did I miss something regarding Dayton’s father? If he is around, then it seems like he should be a part of this decision. (I mean the money alone is cause for that).
I can see the mother making that last statement just to get her daughter to think and not as an indicator of an imminent denial. So, I can see her decision going either way at this point.
I hate to second guess Asuka, but I think it will be a denial, that way we get more drama 🙂.
It also seems like the mother knows her daughter pretty well and sees that a lot of Dayton’s attitude regarding this is not just based on her guardian training. That and the mother’s negative attitude towards “inbreds” and the cost seems to indicate a denial.
Of course she allowed Dayton to train, so I can also see her thinking that someday she will have to allow Dayton a Little, but is the day today?
Daytons patents are divorced, her father lives in California near to where Chrissy lives, which is how Dayton and Chrissy know each other.
Lethal is correct on all accounts. They are divorced. Dayton visits her dad at intervals and times throughout the year becuase of the distance when she goe to visit its for extended visits.
She spends the majority of her summers in california after school ends for the year.
It’d be funny if Dayton’s father was a big time Little Rights Advocate (basically and anti Cindy, or “underbred humper” as Sara would call him) and that’s what lead to the divorce
I mean, his whole backstory is that he lives in California on the same block as Chrissy. Dayton vists on summers, extended holidays and spring break.
So anything is possible. That is as likely a reason as any other.
it would be funny though.
I just don’t see how Littles are seen as animals when you have them living like regular people: living in a city or forming a band or wearing clothes, etc.
The only place littles live like people are within Generitech little cities but actual population never sees them.
The population only sees them in little Marts and prematech stores.
They see pet store basically made for them. Selling cages and collars and leash’s.
You are confusing a singular aspect of the world that exists but only exists within a very large private entity.
What the Public sees is canonically very different.
So theroetically, there could be Underbred breeders? Attempts to make different “lines” of Littles? Would a couple that was married before being hit with Smallara potentially be separated? I could see the female purchased by a breeder who needed to increase stock while the male is neutered to prevent unwanted traits from spreading further in the population. Just like how we do with any other domesticated animal. So many different stories and aspects to explore in this setting. If I wanted to make something in the setting, I’m just trying to understand generally what might be happening “off screen”.
Well, that’s my head canon.