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 Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:53 am
It was nice and bright and early on this morning, only around eleven or so, but Millicent was up and ready for more collecting. She was dressed in her Jedi robes once again, but due to the recent snowfall, she was wearing a pair of snow boots with a pretty light green fur on the top of them. She had decided to go door to door today asking people for donations of cans. She was even going so far today to bring a small wagon with her, in order to better hold the cans.
The first two houses proved to be successes, and yielded Millicent with a total of eight cans. She was very, very pleased with herself and pulled her wagon up to the third house, knocking brightly on the door, and waiting for a response, trying to smooth her robes down as she waited.
She was just always so full of good ideas for this can collecting, It kept surprising her! She wanted to be the one to feed every single homeless person in the whole city. And…she figured she was getting pretty close to that goal!
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:18 pm
It was too bright and too early for Jett to want to be awake—especially after the late night he’d spent collecting energy. There was definitely a plus to going up in rank: he’d collected far more energy last night than he had ever before, and it was ridiculously easy to drop a few of his unlucky energy taps into mirror space. The new sleeves on his outfit were also definitely a plus. Sure, he didn’t get to show of his handsomely sculpted arms, but considering how cold it was getting, he was quick to decide that sleeves beat no sleeves any day.
The knock on the door roused him a little more, though he was already ‘awake’ in that he’d made it out of bed and was puttering around the kitchen. His mother—off on another day of work, leaned back and gave him a look. She had been baking—a hobby of hers that she could actually afford—and had hands covered in batter.
It didn’t matter that he was dressed in loose sweatpants and a tanktop, his mother didn’t have to say anything to guilt him into it. She cast him one look, lips slightly pursed, and Jett just grumbled that he’d get the door.
Walking there wasn’t a problem, but actually opening the door was a hassle. He fumbled for a second before it opened and was greeted with a very cold gust o air that made him wish he was wearing more clothes. He glanced down to tell whoever was at the doorstep that he didn’t want whatever they were selling, though froze when he saw Millie. “…How did you get here?” he instantly demanded, not out of anger in the slightest. Too tired to hold back any emotion, he seemed genuinely confused by whatever method Millie had used to arrive on his doorstep—and if he were more awake might have spotted the wagon and cans to know what she was doing there, too.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:01 pm
As soon as the door opened, Millie dove into her normal speech that she had come up with, hoping to catch the attention of the owner of the house. “Hello there, my name is Millicent and I’m a Jedi Knight trying to do my best to help our city battle against…” The child blinked, looking at the one who opened the door, face breaking into a smile. “Jett! I didn’t know this was your house! Hi! Hi it’s me! It’s Millie!”
Well, this made things more interesting..and more amusing to boot! This was Jett’s house! How cool! Now she knew where he lived and she could come visit him a lot! Why…he didn’t even live that far away from her! Now they could be even better friends forever and ever and ever and ever!
The child laughed. “I’m on a mission, you know that! I’m going door to door asking for more cans! To be a hero, you know.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:25 pm
Jett stared at the little girl on his doorstep for a long moment before he just shook his head. The cold was making him inch away from the door. “…What are you doing up so early? …Shouldn’t you be asleep in bed? …Dangerous…for a kid to be outside and…alone,” he grumbled, trying to fight back a yawn.
It won, and he reached a hand up to cover his mouth.
His mother called from the kitchen and he tilted his head to hear her better. He made out, “Jett? Who is it?”
The smell of cookies and good cooking were wafting through his nostrils and he was half tempted to just shoo Millie away and say no one so he could go back to waking up and tending to breakfast, but instead he just sighed. “…Friend, mom.”
He looked back to Millie and somewhat reluctantly asked, “You want to come in for a second? I can’t stand here in the cold, it’s—”
…’Freezing my balls off’ is not something you tell a ten year old.
”…Cold.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:50 pm
Millicent grinned, then nodded. “I’d love to come in, thanks!” The child looked at her wagon with the cans in it, then moved it to the side, behind a bush in Jett’s yard, before shivering and wiggling past him into the house.
“Wow! I didn’t think I’d ever be in your house, Jett! This is really cool! It’s like we’re better friends now, even!” She looked at him, grinning still. “Also, it’s not early! It’s past eleven o’clock, silly! It’s almost lunchtime! Mom said I could go out and get cans, I only live a few streets away, so she’s not worried at all!”
Besides, why would anyone have to worry? Millie could take care of herself. She was a super hero, and really good at being a super hero. If she could help the world and save other people, then she could surely take care of herself…unless it was a Dark Mirror Senshi that she was running into…
The child shuddered. She really, really detested those people.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:27 pm
Jett tilted his head at Millie and then glanced towards the kitchen. He’d mistaken her shiver for one of cold nd felt a bit obligated to offer her something to help warm her up. He glanced towards the kitchen, trying to decide if hiding Millie was going to make this less awkward. If his mother didn’t see her, he didn’t have to worry about awkwardly trying to explain the situation. If he got caught trying to hide her, he was just going to have more to explain.
“…Yeah, well…It’s still early for me. I just woke up,” he grumbled, eagerly closing the door. He ran his hands up and down his arms to heat up. “…Do you want lunch? I mean, kids eat cookies, right? Mom always makes too much. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but I humor her,” he tried to explain, gesturing towards the kitchen.
“If you ask nicely, you can probably con her out of a few cans, too. She always wanted a daughter, so she’s kind of got a soft spot for little girls.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:32 pm
Millicent craned her neck to glance around the house as best she could, though lit up at the mention of cookies. “I love cookies! My favorite are the snowball cookies that my mom makes for Christmas! When she makes them, I’ll have to bring you one…I don’t care if you have a sweet tooth or not, they’re the best cookies in the whole world.”
She skipped towards the kitchen. “I’d be happy to be your mom’s daughter! I’d love another mom, and yours seems to be really nice! I mean you turned out really nice, so she must be wonderful! I’m really excited to get to meet her!”
The child reached up then and took Jett’s hand. “Come on! Introduce me to her okay! I wanna meet mom!” She laughed, then dragged the blonde as best she could, tugging his hand. “Let’s go! The cookies and cans await!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:48 pm
The house was a friendly enough house—it was well furnished, albeit much of the furniture seemed to be old. The television, even, was large, though was very thick and rested on a wood cabinet across from an aged couch. There were pictures of Jett everywhere and it was very clear that his mother was a very doting one. There were a few pictures of her and her son, and though Jett was scowling in several pictures, she was always smiling affectionately.
“Uh,” Jett said, quite willing to try and distract Millie for long enough that he could think of some good excuse or some not ***** way to introduce her, though Millie gave him very little time to do so. He was too tired to resist her dragging him through his own house and found himself in the kitchen, staring blankly at his mother, holding hands with the little girl.
Charmaine blinked, holding a pan of freshly baked cookies, quirked her head just slightly, and then smiled and set them atop the stove. It was clear that she’d been busy baking—the whole kitchen was full of little snacks and treats she’d been preparing for the office party she was attending later. “Hello, there,” she said with slight hesitation.
”…Mom,” Jett introduced, gesturing to Millie with his free hand. “…This is Millie. She’s…you know. I’m helping her with a school project or something, to collect cans for homeless people, and, you know. She comes to visit me at the shop sometimes, so. I guess we’re friends or something, I don’t know.” He glanced between the two females and then gestured to his mother. “Oh. And that’s Mom, Millie.”
Charmaine was clearly amused with her son; she gave him a playful smile. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re making friends, Jett.”
Removing her oven mitts, she set them down on the countertop wherever she could find room and then turned to face the two. “Millie, was it? It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m surprised you can handle Jett, especially at work! Sometimes he gets so grumpy.” She smiled at her son in a gesture that said she was just teasing him; he didn’t seem to take offense and shrugged (It was true, anyway). “I’m Charmaine,” the woman continued, walking over to the two and holding out a hand for Millie. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sweet heart.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:05 pm
Millicent smiled at Jett’s mother, then broke free of Jett’s hand, running the few steps to the woman and giving her a big hug. After all, she was Jett’s mom! And she always hugged Jett, so why wouldn’t she hug her too! And Jett had said that she liked kids! It was wonderful! She smelled like cookies!
“Hi mom! I’m Millie and it’s so nice to meet you too! Your house is really pretty and it smells good and you smell good!” She drew in a breath, grinning. “Jett’s lying! He’s not helping me with school, you see, I’m collecting cans to be a hero, and he’s my padawan! I’m a Jedi Knight, and I’ve been training Jett to be a super hero too!”
She turned to look at the blonde and smiled. “Right, Jett? Right! You’re a super hero. We’re super heroes together.”
Once more, the redhead looked at Charmaine. “You should be proud of your son, Mom. He’s a real hero, and he’s doing real good with his lightsaber lessons!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 8:29 pm
”Is that so!” the woman exclaimed, returning the hug. “Well, he'll have to show me those moves sometime! And Jett should remember not lie to his mother. Don’t you use him as a role model. You should never lie to your mother, Millie!”
Jett all but groaned as he smacked his forehead and shook his head, annoyed. His mother’s laugh wasn’t spiteful, but he felt his ears flush just slightly in embarrassment.
Charmaine pat the girl on the back and then stood, removing herself from the hug. “You know, Jett, I started to think you chased all your friends away. How come nobody ever comes over?”
Jett lowered his hand from his forehead and gave his mother an unamused look. “…Because all my friends are obnoxious.”
Charmaine laughed and waved her hand nonchalantly. She reached to tie her whispy blonde hair up in a more refined bun and then walked to the sink to rinse her hands off. “You said you were collecting cans for the homeless? And Jett’s helping you?”
Jett shrugged indifferently in response, moving to the refrigerator to fish out leftovers or something for breakfast.
“I suppose that would be why some of the cans we have set aside for emergencies are missing…?”
Again, Jett shrugged. “They’ve been sitting there for years, I didn’t even think you’d notice. I’ll replace them,” he said, drawing out of the refrigerator with the milk.
His mother noticed and smiled, looking from the milk to Millie. “Millie, dear! I’ll give you some cans if you promise to help me? Jett doesn’t like cookies, will you try some for me? Sweets go straight to my thighs, but you’re young enough that I think you could handle being a taste-tester, yes? And you deserve a reward for putting up with my son,” she said in a tone that denoted nothing but affection for Jett.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:03 pm
Millicent shook her head. “No, Mom! I would never lie to my Mommy, not ever. I love her with all my heart you know. Because that’s what a daughter is supposed to do!” She watched the woman, then nodded when asked about the cans. “Yeah! I’m trying to get two hundred and twenty seven cans for them! I can make my goal you know! I already have kind of a lot! I think I must be at almost a hundred! They’re all stacked in my room! And Jett’s gonna help me deliver them all when I reach my goal!”
So, maybe her and Jett hadn’t yet spoken of such things, but, she knew he wouldn’t mind. That’s just what friends did after all!
“If you could donate some cans, that would make me very, very happy! Also, I would love to taste your cookies! I love cookies! Do you know how to make Snowball cookies? My mom makes them and they’re yummy! I’ll bring you one when she makes them! Just one won’t go to your thighs! It’s just one little cookie!”
She liked Jett’s mom. Jett’s mom was nice, and Millie liked nice people.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:21 pm
Charmaine couldn’t help but laugh at Millie’s enthusiasm; there was a certain sparkle in her eyes that Jett hadn’t seen in a long while, so he didn’t even think to speak up and tell her that he’d never agreed to help her deliver the cans. He did have a car, and you know what? Better that he drive her there before some homeless person beat her up and stole everything she’d worked so hard to collect. He still intend to help out more—other than by buying her a cart full of cans (his stomach flipped when he remembered the price tag that came with those cans, even if they were on sale…)
“Well, if you say so, Millie. Just one, then. I’ve never had a snowball cookie, so if you say they’re so good, I’ll have to try one! Jett, get her a few cans while I get these cookies off the plate. I’ll give you all the ones that break, Millie” Charmaine promised, completely wiling to share the deformed cookies. Children didn’t care if the cookies looked good or bad, just as long as they tasted fine.
Jett grumbled something but didn’t protest; he walked to the pantry and pulled down four cans of beets and corn, of which he did not particularly like, and set them down the table so Millie could grab them before she left.
Charmaine worked quickly and was already snatching up broken cookies, collecting them for sharing. “You’re doing a good thing, Millie. I’ll bet your parents are very proud of you. It’s nice to see young people like you doing so much for the community. You’ll make a good Jedi some day, I just know it,” she said, smiling as she presented the cookies. She seemed good at multi asking and, even as she held the plate out to Millie with one hand, was unscrewing the lid of the milk jug so she could pour Millie a glass to go with her cookies.
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:07 pm
Millie seemed so very happy with all of the attention, and set to work at once gobbling up the broken cookies. By the time Charmaine had the milk poured, the child’s mouth was full and she looked very happy.
“These are so good thank you!” She managed to choke out, cookie crumbs spraying over the table. She swallowed the food in her mouth and took a long drink of the milk. “Can I come and visit you again, mom? Maybe when I’m not on a secret awesome mission to save the city, maybe you and me and Jett could just hang out and stuff?”
This lady was wonderful! And she knew that Millie was going to be a good Jedi someday. Everyone should know that Millie was going to be a good Jedi someday. Because she was. That was just a fact.
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:44 pm
Jett had managed to pour himself a cup of semi warmed black coffee and raised his brow when Millie spewed cookies all over the table. He was thankful he and his mother weren't germophobic or they might have had some issues.
Charmaine just smiled. "Well, you should probably spend more time with your mother, dear. I'm at work most of the time. Today's a special day, though, so I've got some time to bake. But, I suppose..." She glanced at Jett and then shrugged. "If you want to come over and play with Jett, just don't make a mess."
Once more, Jett gave his mother a look to try and convince her not to encourage Millie, though his mother's smile indicated that she really had no issue with the girl visiting. The girl just had too much energy. Especially so early in the morning.
On most days, Jett could handle her, but this was just a bit odd. In his kitchen. He drew the mug of coffee to his lips and took a long sip, savoring the zing of the warm coffee. All he could imagine was some peace and quiet--a nice, slow morning where he could wake up without little girl chatter ringing through his ears...
He lowered the mug and flashed a slight smile at Millie. "Well. Nice having you over, Millie, but--you've got a lot of houses to hit up, right? Go on, you got your cans from us. There are a lot of people around here that'll probably toss some cans your way."
Mr. Jones, down the road, hated children. He might actually toss some cans at her. Millie should be careful, someone should warn her.
...Jett didn't.
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Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:48 pm
Millie smiled and got the cans together, hesitating and hugging both Jett and his mother before she grabbed the cans and made her way to the door. “Thank you again, Mom! It was really nice to meet you and I’m sure I’ll see you again soon! Jett, I’ll come get you from your work again and we can practice your form two, okay? Bye bye!”
The child laughed and ran out the door of the house, putting the cans in her wagon and stretching before giving a little shiver and heading back out to the street, now even more determined to collect as many cans as she could. Maybe she would even make her goal larger now that she had so many cans! A good foundation now might mean a bigger load in the future!
All that aside, she thought this had been a fantastic morning!
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