Dayton lowered her hand into the sink and lifted Ezra out with a practiced gentleness, setting him on the counter beside the basin.
From up here, the counter felt like an open plain of smooth laminate, too wide, too exposed. Ezra sat with his hands braced behind him, posture stiff like posture could still defend him.
Dayton turned on the faucet.
Water blasted into the sink with a roar that made Ezra’s teeth vibrate. The sound filled the bathroom, bounced off tile, turned ordinary plumbing into thunder. She slid her hand under the stream and waited until it warmed, testing it like she was calibrating the world.
When she spoke again, it was casual, almost bored.
“Hold on a sec,” Dayton said, and then she turned the water down until it ran in a quieter ribbon.
Ezra watched her like he couldn’t decide whether to be grateful or resentful.
She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and started brushing. Not rushed. Not half-hearted. The full routine, elbows tucked in, eyes on her reflection.
“Three minutes,” she said around the foamy mouthful, as if this was an achievement she wanted on record.
Ezra’s gaze flicked away on instinct and then back again because there was nowhere else to put it. He hated how close everything was from this height. The movement of her jaw. The sound of bristles. The faint minty chemical smell rolling over the counter edge and sinking into him like weather.
Dayton spit into the sink without thinking twice.
She didn’t glance at him. She didn’t apologize. She didn’t do that awkward human thing where you pretend normal body functions aren’t real. She just rinsed, swished mouthwash, spit again, and kept going like Ezra was a phone on the counter. Like he was part of the furniture.
Like he was supposed to get used to it.
And maybe that was the point.
When she finished, she rinsed the sink clean with a sweep of water, letting it carry everything down. Then she reached to the drain and pressed the stopper into place.
The sink began to fill.
Ezra’s eyes narrowed as he watched the water level creep up the porcelain. The basin transformed in slow motion from empty to something else: a shallow pool, a hazard, a tool. He could feel the cool dampness rising into the air, the humidity gathering on his skin.
Dayton glanced down at him for the first time in a while.
“You good?” she asked.
Ezra forced his voice to stay even. “I’m fine.”
Dayton nodded like that settled it. She turned her attention back to the mirror, unbothered.
She wasn’t embarrassed by him seeing her brush her teeth. She wasn’t worried about dignity.
Because in Dayton’s mind, this was what their life was going to look like now: her routine, her space, her rules. Him nearby. Always nearby until trust could be built. A trust that worked both ways.
And the most unsettling part was that she wasn’t doing it to be cruel.
She was doing it because she thought this was what “doing it right” looked like. As she waited for the sink to fill half full, she reached underneath the sink and into cabinet and pulled out of bottle.
Dayton grabbed a squat little bottle from the shelf and twisted the cap off. She poured a capful into the water collecting in the sink.
A soft pink swirl bloomed across the surface.
Ezra couldn’t miss the label: Little Safe. Gentle. Moisturizing. The kind of product sold in bright packaging to make something humiliating look cheerful. The scent hit a second later, sweet berries, light enough not to punch him in the face the way full sized soap would.
“You can’t possibly intend that for me,” Ezra said, and he hated that it came out sharper than he meant. Bold, yes. Also a little desperate.
Dayton looked at him like he’d asked a stupid question.
“Who else would it be for?” she said. “You need to clean yourself. I’m not gonna have a stinky little.”
Ezra’s jaw tightened.
Dayton’s mouth moved as she fought a smile, just a little. “And if you don’t like the scent, you should’ve come with me today. But you wanted to be all stubborn and dramatic and hold up in your habitat, so… berries. Because I like it. If you want something different come with next time.”
She tipped the bottle toward him like that settled the debate. “Welcome to having a guardian.”
Dayton watched the sink fill, then tested the water again with her hand, calibrating it the way she’d been trained.
Ezra watched her watch the water.
Dayton could read it on his face: the competence annoyed him. Not because it wasn’t considerate, not because it wasn’t kind. Because it made it harder for him to paint her as the villain. Kindness messed up the story he wanted to tell himself.
“How do you even know what temperature I like?” Ezra asked, irritation creeping into his voice.
Dayton didn’t look up from the sink. “Because your body has a safe range,” she said like it was obvious. “Hot and cold hit you way harder now. If I set a glass of ice water in here and you touched it, it’d feel painfully cold. And boiling water would be… not survivable.”
She glanced at him. “So I’m getting it into the range. If you want it warmer or cooler after, we can adjust.”
Ezra’s mouth tightened. “And how do I know you won’t hold this over me?”
Dayton blinked. “Hold what over you. It’s… bath water.”
She said his name like she was trying to keep herself calm. “Look, Ezra. You’re my little now. I’m going to take care of you. That’s literally the point.”
Her tone hardened slightly, like steel sliding under the softness. “I don’t get anything out of you suffering. Even if you were an ass to me since basically day one.”
“I wasn’t an ass,” Ezra snapped, then stopped. The word he wanted, the one he used to hide behind, tasted wrong now.
Equal.
He swallowed it.
“I treated you…” he started again, slower. “I may have singled you out. A little.”
Dayton’s eyes stayed on him.
Ezra forced himself to continue, as if saying it cleanly would make it justified. “You’re… a know it all. You sit there with your hand up, smug, like you’re doing everyone a favor by being right.”
His voice sharpened, gaining that classroom cadence he used when he felt cornered. “You don’t even have to pay attention. You can look up for thirty seconds and still have the answer. And it sets a bad example, because other students can’t do that. They watch you, and they feel stupid.”
Dayton’s face flashed with anger, quick and bright. “So you made my life hell because I’m smart?”
Ezra’s jaw worked. “There’s a smugness to your writing,” he said, as if he’d been saving the critique in a folder. “It’s… irksome.”
He glanced away, then back, like he couldn’t decide whether to stop. “And you don’t just do it in class. In sports too. You push people. You win. You always have to win.”
His eyes narrowed, honest in a way he probably hated. “You have this natural talent that… pushes my buttons. And then you come back the next day like none of it touched you,” he said quietly. “Like you’re untouchable.”
Oh this is getting good this honestly pretty good let it all you two I’ve been wondering when this would happen
Most of this week is this long conversation between them
LETS GOOO!!! I love me a good honest conversation between two characters
Dayton didn’t think she could think less of Ezra but now she does. She was making him look even smaller because of his unamerican thinking.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jytgHau90xaxQYNOmEsKFzm9i-y6_nAD/view?usp=drivesdk
Ironic, with Dayton being one of the smallest-minded characters.
1) “posture stiff like posture could still defend him” It’s not like anything actually can, so he may as well try
2) “Ezra watched her like he couldn’t decide whether to be grateful or resentful.” Easy, resentful (and I think he already decided)
3) “Like he was supposed to get used to it” that is what she expects
4) “You good?” No, but he remains uninjured
5) “Always nearby until trust could be built. A trust that worked both ways.” Dayton’s gotta a lot of work to do before she earns his trust
6) “And the most unsettling part was that she wasn’t doing it to be cruel” Well, she’s doing it for revenge, which does hold an inherent cruelty
7) “She was doing it because she thought this was what ‘doing it right’ looked like.” That’s a side effect of following cruel laws: Dayton gets to do both right and cruel
8) “Who else would it be for?” You need to clean yourself. I’m not gonna have a stinky little.” Is it a scent bath or a regular one?
9) “you should’ve come with me today. But you wanted to be all stubborn and dramatic and hold up in your habitat,” god forbid someone wants some time to himself away from the demon child.
10) “Welcome to having a guardian.” salt in the wound
11) “Not because it wasn’t considerate, not because it wasn’t kind. Because it made it harder for him to paint her as the villain. Kindness messed up the story he wanted to tell himself.” Many villains wear masks of kindness; Even Dayton Satan pretended to be Eve’s friend when offering her the forbidden fruit.
12) “How do you even know what temperature I like?” Like? Dude, she’s picking a temperature that’s safe.
13) “And how do I know you won’t hold this over me?” She will, it’s her nature
14) “Look, Ezra. You’re my little now. I’m going to take care of you. That’s literally the point.” No, the point was revenge
15) “I don’t get anything out of you suffering. Even if you were an ass to me since basically day one.” Just like Dayton is to Jordan
16) “I may have singled you out a little.” A little? He and Dayton have the same issue of downplaying their sins
17) “You’re… a know-it-all. You sit there with your hand up, smug, like you’re doing everyone a favour by being right.” Seriously, that’s the best he’s got?
18) “So you made my life hell because I’m smart?” Please tell me that was’t his actual problem with her.
19) “And you don’t just do it in class. In sports, too. You push people. You win. You always have to win.” That’s a pathetic reason to have targeted her like that, especially when Dayton has a much more obvious reason for him to hate her built in.
20) “You have this natural talent that… pushes my buttons. And then you come back the next day like none of it touched you, like you’re untouchable.” You definitely shouldn’t be touching students, regardless of which buttons were pressed
Dayton was doing nothing wrong. Ezra was being not just a week minded little, but a loser jealous of people that always work hard to better themselves where he is like many tenured teachers with no motivation to compete with others for greater rewords in life.
That’s what I’m saying, there’s plenty of horrible things that make Dayton hate worthy, and he’s picked none of them.
Dayton doesn’t “always work hard to better herself”. She’s actually put in very little effort and has only slightly improved since 2020, and those improvements are only in certain cases, around pretty much just Kinsley.
“But you wanted to be all stubborn and dramatic and hold up in your habitat, so… berries. Because I like it. If you want something different come with next time.”
either she’s making a joke, or she genuinely thinks he had no reason to be that way, which the latter kinda reminds you that at the end of the day, she’s still a kid that misses nuance. Not that it’s a dig at her, cause most of the other guardians don’t think their newly acquired littles or those that just become littles should be having existential crisis’ or grieving the fact that their whole world was uprooted (even if they had time to plan everything, it wouldn’t mean they can’t be upset), it’s just more grounding to see that side of Dayton come out.
I still think Dayton not making a big song and dance about every one of her choices too is good for ezra, for the exact reason he thinks. Having it look like normalcy makes it easier to accept. Though personally, if i were a guardian, i’d at least explain before just doing, but that’s just me lol I have to justify everything to make sure I don’t miss something
also cool to see that they’re finally talking about the past, too, or that it’s at least coming up. it needs to so they can move on.
This conversation is going to be explosive.
missed the chance to edit my post haha
anyway, was also just now thinking that, again, this is a pretty strong parallel to Sara and Emily’s student-teacher relationship. like it’s funny that both Emily and Ezra both hate the same trait that Sarah and Dayton share in regard to being a know-it-all that always has the right answers. The only difference, which is a good one, is Ezra and Dayton are talking about it now, where as we saw where Sarah ended up with both Emily and Charity’s treatment of her.
Yeah, the time limits on editing get me sometimes too.