So I had a Scorpion dream with a bit of Lion King in it last night (blame my Tumblr dash) and I posted what I could remember from it on Tumblr – Paige and Walter's initial conversation and the Lion King quote at the end, and some people wanted me to fic it, so I figured here's a little random, not-related-to-much-of-anything writing for this Friday night.

"Hey, good day so far, huh?" He said with a grin.

She folded her arms. "Listen, I'd really appreciate if you'd dial it down a bit."

His eyebrows narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Paige glanced over to where Ralph was laughing hysterically at something Sylvester said. Drew, standing next to him, was laughing as well – but it was clear that he wasn't really sure what was funny. "I need you to…I'm asking you to stop making this a competition with Drew. The hugging Ralph quickly when he does something funny, the 'that's my boy', just...all that."

"Drew is behaving exactly the same way," Walter said, an accusatory finger extending toward the younger man at arm's length.

Paige swatted quickly at his hand, forcing him to lower it. "The point is," Paige said, "Drew is his father. I love how you and the rest of them treat Ralph, I couldn't have asked for a better group of people for him, but…" she shook her head. "He isn't your son, Walter. When his dad is here, his dad needs to be able to act like it. And I know it was Drew's idea for all of us to spend the night here and I appreciate you being okay with it, but I cannot handle another fourteen hours of this."

"You mean like he did all those years? Sorry," Walter said, lowering his eyes when he saw her set her jaw in that do not go there right now way. "I'll tone it down."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Where is Drew?" Walter asked as he came down the stairs with an armful of pillows.

Ralph turned his face into Paige. "It's okay, baby," she said.

"He had to leave," Toby said.

"His brother was rushed to the hospital, and he was able to get a flight," Paige said. "It isn't his fault. He didn't want to go," she said, looking down at Ralph. "You hear me, baby?"

"He knows Drew didn't want to go," Walter said. "It's just hard for him because of past experience. Even if he knows he didn't want to leave this time, he remembers when he left before. This isn't upsetting him, it's the memory of the past." He crouched down in front of Paige and looked at Ralph. "Right, buddy?"

"Can we watch The Lion King?"

Not exactly what Walter was expecting him to say. "Uh…sure. Paige?"

"He likes the animation," Paige said. "It helps him relax."

"Do we…" Toby looked at his watch. "I could go steal one from that archaic rental place down the street."

"No need," Sylvester said, producing the DVD. "It relaxes me, too."

Walter was startled awake at the sudden jostling on his mattress. The last time he was awoken in such a way, he'd been smothered in unprovoked affection from a rather large dog. This time, the disturbance was Ralph, who Walter could barely make out in the still dark room.

"Morning, pal," Walter said, sitting up. "What's going on?"

"Everyone else is asleep," he said. "I'm bored."

"Did you get enough sleep?"

The boy nodded. "The app says ninety eight percent efficiency." He slid off the bed and darted down the stairs.

Shouldn't have left him sweetened cereal as a breakfast option. After his close call the previous year, Paige had been trying to channel Ralph's tendency to take risks into "something a little less harmless." Unfortunately for the Ralph sixty years in the future, the boy had developed a bit of a sweet tooth when it came to breakfast food.

Walter hauled himself out of bed – a little sore, as usual. They said he probably always would be after the cliff. He limped a few steps, then his stride straightened out and he followed Ralph down the stairs.

Happy was curled up in a chair, Toby on the floor next to her. Sylvester was on one of the air mattresses, and the other, smaller one was vacant. The occupant of the smaller mattress was standing in front of the couch, his hands on his hips, seemingly baffled that the woman who got him up early for school each day could be so totally out, the pillow folded almost in half against the arm of the couch, her hair in front of her face. Giving up, Ralph went over and shook Sylvester, who mumbled something dismissive in response. Ralph look at Walter and dramatically shook his head.

Walter walked over to the couch. "Paige?"

No response. He knelt in front of her head and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey."

"What?" She asked sleepily.

"Your son's awake."

"Mmm," Paige mumbled, shifting her weight without showing any sign of getting up. "Before sunrise he's your son."

Walter cocked his head. "What?"

She lifted her head, more conscious now. "What?"

"What?"

From a few feet away, Toby briefly lifted his head. "Shut up!"