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 Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:27 am
Once again, Conan mentally cursed his weak, nerd-boy arms. He should just give up and get the cabbage a stroller and push it around. It'd make more sense than having to carry it around and take constant breaks. He'd grown up with all sorts of interesting siblings, so he was used to odd looks.
He pushed his glasses up his nose before fumbling in his backpack for a spray bottle, which hit spritzed the cabbage with. Attentive future father? Yes. Perhaps too attentive? Oh, yes.
Conan had taken the little cabbage up to the daycare center in hopes of convincing himself that, yes, he could indeed do this. It wouldn't be as bad as he feared, after all. There would be people to talk to, and he wouldn't be going at it alone.
Anywhere else in the world, a boy petting an overlarge cabbage and murmuring at it absent-mindedly would probably get a few looks. But, thus was Barton. People were used to far weirder things.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:39 am
There was a man in the hallway, cleaning the floor with a mop and bucket. He was an older fellow, in his mid-forties, with white at his temples. But that and his eyes were the only things that really showed his age. He was in excellent shape, which showed with the Liberty T-shirt he was wearing.
He glanced up at the sight of the man and his cabbage and broke into a grin, putting the mop in the bucket. "Hello," he said. "Are you here for a tour, or just to look around on your own?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:16 am
Conan smiled up at him, looking a wee bit out of breath. "I'm just poking about myself, Sir." He stood, dragging the cabbage up with him, and looked down at it for a moment. He most assuredly couldn't hold it one handed, but it was rude not to be polite...
"My name is Conan. I'd offer a proper greeting, but she's too heavy to hold one armed." He said, shaking his head at the cabbage.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:20 am
"Trust me," Tyler said. "I know what you mean. Name's Tyler Deakon, I'm the janitor of this place. And yeah, I still use the word janitor." Sanitation officer had always sounded stupid to him. "I've got some time, since this is going to have to dry. Want me to show you around?"
The classes were almost over, he thought, which meant Chris would come to find him soon. But Chris knew this place like the back of his hand, so he doubted he'd have trouble with that. "You'll want to start with the daycare area, of course."
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:45 am
"Conan Avelon." Conan had to make do with a little bob of his head. "And if you would, that'd be great. Going around by yourself only gets you so far. It'd be great to have someone show me around that actually knows where they're going."
Conan held onto his cabbage, but now appeared to have more energy, bouncing slightly on his feet. Ah, it was always good to get out and meet new people, expecially if they could share knowledge.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:56 am
Tyler smiled at him, about to reply when he heard a very familiar voice--or set of voices coming down the hall. Chris was singing to himself again, he thought as the black skinned boy appeared around the corner. And it was an Aerosmith song this time, he noted.
"Uncle Shade let me out early," the large child said, grinning as he caught sight of his father. "We were climbing rope in gym."
"Alright," Tyler said. "Mr. Avelon, this is my son, Christian," he added, glancing over at the other man to see how he reacted to Chris. It was always interesting to see how people reacted to the two hundred (or more, he hadn't weighed him in a while) pound kid that walked on all fours and had two voices.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:33 am
Conan had grinned at the sound of the song. Mom had been a fan of Aerosmith. And the child, who was definitely larger than he was, didn't seem to phase him.
"Conan's fine. It's nice to meet you, Christian. I'd shake your hand, but my arms are full of cabbage." Conan grinned, giving another bob of his head. Heavy Cabbage. "What song was that?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:43 am
"Come Together," Chris answered, his attention going to the cabbage instead of to the man. "You've got a baby?" he asked, breaking into a smile. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"Chris here is fond of the little ones," Tyler said in a mildly bragging tone. "He's a good kid."
Chris flushed purple, shrugging. "The older people get the more complicated they are," he said. "I like simple. It's not the same as stupid," he added, in case he was taken wrong.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:23 am
"Someone I know thinks it's a girl." Conan patted the cabbage and smiled. "I'll be happy either way. And it does get more complicated the older you get. I miss being little. I think the world was nicer then."
Granted, he was still sort of shrimpy, but he wasn't a child anymore. "So, are there a lot of kids around here?" Because it would always be good to know if there were possible playmates or friends about.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:31 am
"Several," Tyler said. "Here, I'll let you glance in on the daycare section, but try not to bother them too much. It's clean up time." He turned, leading the other man towards the daycare to let him look in at all the little kids. "Cabbage kids grow a lot faster than normal kids, so this place has classes all the way through high school. We don't have any college aged kids yet."
Chris followed silently, peeking in on the little ones and looking for Merroth. He didn't want to have to deal with that annoyance unless he had to.
"So... want to see the elementary school classes?" Tyler asked.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:03 pm
"Sure." Conan nodded. "It's always good to know as much as you can going into an adventure." He smiled and petted the cabbage. Silly, hands on boy.
"A lot of Gaian children seem to grow that way." He remarked. "It took me a year to grow to the size I am now. So, hopefully I can help her when she does grow."
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:20 pm
"So you're a native to Gaia?" Tyler asked. "What's it like, growing up that quickly?"
"It's fast," Chris said, seeing as he was going through the same thing, himself. And it was a little bit disconcerting seeing friends one age one day and another age the next.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:37 pm
"Fast," Conan agreed, laughing. "And weird, too. I mean, one day I said goodbye to my 'little girlfriend' Kiri, and the next day I saw her and she was five foot nine... And I was still four foot nine." Ah, that had been an awkward time indeed. Mother had never let him live it down.
"I can't really say too much, though, because I don't know what it's like to grow slower than that. I've been this size for... Going on three years now, though, so I don't think I'll grow more."
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:46 pm
"Small is good," Chris said. "Trust me on this." He paused, seeing how much trouble the man was having with the cabbage. "Want me to carry her?" he asked. "I won't break it. Those things are unbreakable."
Tyler sighed, knowing that Chris was referring to his own little problem. He was already the size of a teenage football player, and he was only a child. It was hard to imagine how big he'd be by the time he was full grown.
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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 4:32 pm
"If you'd wanna." Conan have a scrunched up little smile, holding the cabbage out. "I think I just need to break down and buy a stroller. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Someone peeks in at the baby, sees a cabbage, and gives me a dirty look? I think I can deal with that."
Note to self: Work out more.
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