[Image description: Illustration of a cozy room with an older woman asleep in a chair. A grasshopper the size of a cat has claimed her lap and looks very satisfied.]

Art by Marine Haddock

a/n: Yeah Christmas happened earlier in Gotchard but fuck it i do what I want. This fic is dedicated to Sammi and Miyu because he is not beating the Alatagations. Read on AO3.

The apartment above Kitchen Ichinose was warm and cozy. Not massive, but the large living room that meant Tamami and her new husband could have their chosen families over had been a big selling point for the building. Room to entertain. Room to do projects. Room to raise a family. The listing called it “quirky”, and the western style fireplace certainly was, but they’d loved it.

Late this Christmas Eve night it was only occupied by Tamami, who had dozed off in an overstuffed armchair while reading a novel, and Hopper-1 sprawled on the hearth basking in the warmth of the fire. Hotaro had gone out with his friends after dinner

The silence he’d invoked before even touching the door to Kitchen Ichinose tingled delicately against his skin, keeping the stairs from creaking under his trainers. If you wanted to surprise the woman who had been Sukeban Deka, you had to put some effort into sneaking.

Delicately, he retrieved the fallen book and marked her place with a white feather. He pushed his luck a bit by taking the throw blanket from the couch to cover her with.

He didn’t kiss her hair. He wanted to, sure. That would be romantic and tender, but Tamami’s hand around his throat would not be.

He turned to find Hopper’s big compound eyes fixed on him, antennae quivering with excitement.

“H--” Hopper-1 inhaled.

“shhh!” He hushed as quietly as possible, freezing mid step.

“--oppa!” The bug chemy finished quietly as it leapt into his arms, affectionately rubbing it’s head against his face. Tamami’s gentle breathing remained undisturbed.

“Hey.” He whispered. “You found your way home, too. Huh?”

It was not the greeting Alata Ichinose had envisioned, but he’d take it. Frankly, he wasn’t all that confident a yo-yo to the skull wasn’t in his near future.

That was fine.

He let Hopper flutter to the floor, the insect’s appetite for affection sated for now. On his way out of the living room he shrugged off his jacket and left it draped across a chair, Skyick Power legend right where Tamami would see it when she woke up.

He wanted to check the grocery situation before possibly incurring a concussion. Nothing was going to stop him from cooking for his family after so long.

Hopefully there were enough ingredients for Eri-don.

Hopper-1 made itself comfortable in Tamami's lap, watching the angel walk down the stairs.