#fotd swap

[moonlightsmasquerade]

And we suppose that Cain meeting his swap boy would go even worse, right?

I've answered a similar ask before, but both would be likely horrified by the others fate (with the added bonus that OG Cain is jealous that the Swap version is human) Swap Cain would be frightened by OG Cain and OG Cain would feel really bad for Swap Cain.

[moonlightsmasquerade]

Tensions had already been boiling for around two years, mostly about the same topic of needing to leave the village, but after itty bitty Cain came back home with a bleeding nose, Abe and Judith pretty much lost it with each other and it didn't take long until Abe left the house, so that was basically a legal separation

It would still take nearly two years until the divorce was finalized, and Abe didn't get Cain's custody because he had made it clear he wanted to move back to Ireland, which he did after the divorce. He only doesn't contact Cain anymore because he doesn't know his phone number or new address, and he doesn't want to ask Judith for them either, because otherwise he would

(Yeah, I can see why canon Ju and Abe would feel sad for their swap counterparts)

-Ace Anon

Yeah, I can imagine the blowup afterwards was pretty bad, especially since they had already been fighting, and this would be apart of the tipping point.

[moonlightsmasquerade]

I think the other anon meant how do swap Judith and Abe react to Cain going outside?

Not trying to be rude, maybe they just forgot to add the "Swap!" in the names

Oh! My bad!

I think both would have become really panicked knowing Cain went outside by himself and gotten hurt, Abe especially bc hes so little and he'd be protective over his son. Judith is able to collect herself quicker and would try to tell him he should never run outside with a parent or trusted adult again.

[moonlightsmasquerade]

Now I'm curious: given whatever personalities you've come up with for Judith and Abe, but since they're not getting along well anymore in the swap, how would they react to what happened in Ace's new story, and would they blame each other?

Tbh I think it would haunt both of them to know there is a world where they fought like that in front of their son and ended up splitting up over it.

Judith and Abe wouldn't even blame eachother, they'd both likely think outside factors are why the swap version split, and as long as they avoid that, they would be fine. Yet again, Judith and Abe in the OG story haven't really had any fights like what happened in the Swap (yet) so they don't REALLY know how they would react.

[moonlightsmasquerade]

"Follow me, duckling, even if I'm not your mother"

"Please, Ju, I know it's our home but we're not safe here!"

"We aren't going to leave just because of some stories and a few accidents!"

"And before this year, how many accidents used to occur? Almost zero, but now it's been almost two every week, that's what I'm trying to get you to see, Judith!"

"And what about everything we'd leave behind, Abe? Our family, our house, our friends-"

"Funny how whenever it's anything about your family you're always so quick to help, but whenever it's my family you couldn't care less!"

"What does this have to do with anything?! You said that moving to Ireland was one option, not the final conclusion!"

Mama and Papa were arguing again. They'd been arguing a lot ever since his birthday.

Cain didn't know why, didn't fully understand what 'leaving' meant or why it was something that had to be argued about, but he did know that he hated being in the same room as his mom and dad whenever they started shouting again.

Not that he was in the kitchen with them, but dad had come home looking so scared that he hadn't closed the door, a thing he always did when he and mama got angry with each other, so Cain was hearing everything, even if some words were strange to him.

Papa had left the front door open too. Cain remembered his mom telling him to never go outside alone, but Cain wasn't going alone, he was taking Duckie with him.

His mom and dad had given him Duckie for his birthday, and he was now Cain's best friend. He was a very pretty duck, yellow and green like some apple, funny red wheels and with a cord around the front of his neck that Cain like to call his 'necktie', because to him, Duckie had a fancy accent, so he'd need to dress just as fancy.

They were still working on getting Duckie to start flying, but Cain had learned that the faster he pulled Duckie's necktie along, the faster Duckie would go too, so maybe the day where Duckie finally got the courage to open his wings was close!

Cain held Duckie softly as he peeped into the hallway, trying to tell if the coast was clear to go out. Mom and dad were still fighting, so he supposed it was.

"Don't start quacking" Cain whispered to Duckie as he tip-toed his way to the boat's front door.

It was a bit cold but it wasn't foggy, so by all means, it was a nice day to start flying, at least for Duckie, and Cain liked how his head no longer stang once he couldn't hear his mom and dad anymore.

"Alright, Duckie, today you gonna let out those wings!" Cain said excitedly, putting his arms up in the air to demonstrate.

He knelt down and grabbed the rope, the necktie, and did a small push, as he always did, to scare off Duckie's fears, before speaking again.

"Keep up, Duckie, it's easy!"

Cain started running along the road, occasionally seeing one or two people on the other side of the street, and looking behind to check up on Duckie's progress. Just because Duckie was keeping up didn't mean he couldn't get tired or scared, so Cain had to look back.

The street cut in two, and one of them went down, and Cain thought it'd be smart to get Duckie excited with going down so that he'd open his wings at the bottom.

"You're almost there, Duckie! Just open your wings at the end!" Cain said, looking back at Duckie before running down the street. He didn't remember to warn Duckie that they were going down, but maybe that just made it more fun for Duckie.

Cain couldn't help but giggle as they went down, it was almost like a slide but less slippery, and-

He was suddenly falling down and hitting the floor square on the nose. What did he trip on? There shouldn't have been anything like that in the middle of a road. As Cain sat up, he wanted to start crying, because his palms and nose were hurting a lot, but then he saw Duckie in the distance, still running.

He must have been so scared by Cain falling that he had run off to get help, but Duckie had never left the house, he would get lost!

Cain got up as fast as he could and started running again, calling out to Duckie, waiting for him to quack back in return.

He had reached the docks, but there was still no sign of Duckie, but there also weren't people around that could help him.

At least, there weren't at first, but after a while, Cain saw someone in the distance, holding something that had wheels, so he stepped closer just to be sure.

Sure enough, he recognized Duckie, but he didn't recognize the stranger man who was holding him.

"Hello, little one. What are you doing here this late?" The stranger asked, giving a small smile that for some reason looked weird.

"…Hi. Can you give Duckie back?" Cain asked shyly. He was always shy around new people.

"'Duckie'? You mean this?" The stranger lifted Duckie up in the air to show him off better.

"Yes, that's Duckie! He's my friend"

"Ah, I see. Of course you can have him back" The man knelt down a bit to hand Duckie over back to Cain, but he didn't stand back up immediately.

"You're bleeding a bit, kid" The man locked eyes with Cain and pointed to his own nose.

Cain had been feeling something weird in his nose for a while after he fell, but what did 'bleeding' even mean?

"What's 'bleeding'?"

"Something your parents wouldn't like to see, for sure." The stranger man gave another small smile, though Cain didn't get why, before reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out a pack of tissues and taking one out.

Cain didn't move away when the stranger started wiping out the 'bleeding' under his nose, but when the stranger pulled his hand away he saw that 'bleeding' was red.

"Keep it close to your nose and go back home. Your parents will know what to do" The stranger man said firmly, handing Cain the red tissue.

"Do you know my mom and dad?" Cain didn't have a real reason to be asking, he was just curious.

The man stood up before answering, the smile now lingering on his face. "Abraham and Judith Morgan, right?"

Cain nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm Cain"

"I know." The man too gave a small nod in return, "And I know times have been tough for your parents. People need to help each other, you know?"

The man seemed nice.

"Can you tell me your name so I can tell my mom and dad, mister?" Cain's shyness started disappearing. The man was no longer a complete stranger.

"People just call me 'The Fisherman'. I'm sure they'll figure out it's me, don't worry."

"Ohhh. And can I be your friend?"

"An old soul like me? You don't need to, kid."

"Duckie likes you, so we want to be your friends!" Cain chirped, nearly giving a jump.

"I see. Then can I make my first request as your friend?"

"Sure!"

"Go back home before it gets dark. And maybe try talking to the fishes one of these days, they like to talk."

"Are you gonna be on the sea, too?"

"Sometimes." The Fisherman snorted in amusement, and Cain gave the smallest smile in return.

"I'll see if I have time, then! Need to teach Duckie how to fly first, you know?"

"I understand. Now go back before your parents get worried, okay?" The Fisherman nodded in the general direction of the street that had led Cain here.

Right! Must be close to ten minutes since Cain left the house. He really should start heading back. He started running back, but he turned around to wave at his new friend.

"I'll try to see you again when my bleeding disappears!"

"Good luck, kid." The Fisherman waved back, though Cain didn't know why he was wishing him good luck to begin with. Duckie must have told him about the training, that was the most likely explanation.

Even though it hadn't been today that Duckie opened his wings, Cain had made a new friend, so that was enough to make up for it!

Now he just needed mama to explain to him what the whole 'bleeding' thing was.

-Ace Anon (earlier than predicted but still here!)

AAAAA ITS SO GOOD. I love the pov from itty swap Cain, poor dear doesn't understand why his parents are shouting at eachother. I like how he thinks and perceives the world. And I absolutely love how you write swap Fisherman, he's friendly yet strange. And of course he's nice to this strange kid.

[moonlightsmasquerade]

"Baby ducks symbolize innocence, new beginnings and the nurturing of new relationships"

New ways in life do get PTSD too, apparently /lhj

(Also, fun fact, father ducks have little responsibilities when it comes to ducklings, just waiting for the next breeding season and sometimes even abandoning their partner, while mother ducks take full responsibility when it comes to feeding, warming, teaching how to fly and overall protecting their baby ducks until they can fend for themselves at 2 or 3 months old)

(Even if Ace didn't input this entire symbolism on purpose, it's still pretty ironic when in the context of the swap Morgan family)

-Wand Anon

Yeah!!! It's fun symbolism to think about!

[moonlightsmasquerade]

Imagine you're just minding your own business in the docks, about to head back home after an afternoon of fishing and maybe scaring people, when some duck pull-along toy bumps against your shoe

-Ace Anon

:O the beginning...

[moonlightsmasquerade]

I have the story of how baby swap Cain met Feral almost ready! Just need to finish the last few paragraphs and hope nothing bad irl happens that delays it (has been mostly chill for now)

I'm thinking of calling it something relating to birds, because baby Cain had a duckie toy, but I'm open to suggestions from you or your other fans!

-Ace Anon

Oooo! I'm very excited for this one! A bird related title would be a fun one I think, especially bc ducklings follow whoever they share a bond with (connecting dots bc duckie toy :>)