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Username: - Mynsed -
Cert:

Prompt 1: Something has caused you to be volunteering for the orphanage for about the last week, and today is the last day you planned on volunteering.
Prompt 2: You enter the room and are immediately a person of interest for every child in the room except one, who stays away and ignores you.
Prompt 3: You decide for some reason that maybe adoption isn't for you, and you go home empty-handed. But later that evening...

RP Response:
Vega sighed wistfully, thumbing through the papers. He was feeling listless again. Which wasn’t a good sign, considering he was trying to find a volunteer job that filled up his time and took his mind off of him. His ex as of two weeks. Sure, their relationship had lasted little over two months. But this time… this time, surely, he had been the one, his true love, his soul mate.

Except, that hadn’t been the case.

Pouting, he drummed his manicured nails against the table for a few beats before shoving away from the table. Quickly, the geist deposited the newspaper and empty coffee cup into the waste bin and left the café, smoothing down his skirt to make sure his underwear wasn’t peeking. The wind caught his blonde hair and, not in the mood to have a mouthful of hair, he pulled up his peachy hood. He was just not in a swell mood.

He was determined to go home. Determined to eat another thing of ice cream and watch something corny that would have him bawling his eyes out. His body kept fading haphazardly, emotions on a thin leash, tendrils wavering wildly. His thoughts, unoccupied by anything now, wandered back to his ex… and tears sprung into his eyes.

No! He would not think of him! Stubbornly, he turned to the nearest paper posting on a pole… and saw a sign. His eyes stared, looking at the volunteer ad. An orphanage. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Being from an orphanage as well, the idea sounded all too swell. And since he was fired for his… tardiness… last week, Vega certainly had a lot of free time on his hand!

Quickly, he grabbed the number and called.

--
It turned out the orphanage volunteer idea was the perfect idea to distract his mind. He enjoyed playing with the children. He enjoyed taking care of him. He found a rather… well, maternal side that he didn’t know he had.

It was the last day of his work and they were having a small party. The kids were clinging to his legs, some talking excitedly, others bawling over the idea that he was going to leave. Despite his promises that he’ll be back, that he’ll still visit, it didn’t seem to soothe all of them.

There was food. There was drinks. There was just a general good time. The party was really perfect. Well… almost perfect. His eyes went to a child that was sitting in a corner, by themselves. The weeks prior, the child was attached to his leg, refusing to let go, refusing to give space. And Vega spoiled the child, happy for the attention. But now… now the child wouldn’t even look at him. Vega opened his mouth to say something… but another attendant took the child to another room, presumably to talk to them.

Well… it was about time to go. Vega was disappointed that he didn’t get to say goodbye to that freshling in particular. On his way home, he mulled over the freshling. The freshling must have been absolutely heartbroken to see Vega go. And angry. Probably feeling betrayed.

It kept Vega up at night, thinking about the freshling. The reaction… the freshling was bad with talking. Vega had won the freshling’s heart. And had abandoned them. Like, sure, Vega couldn’t have changed it. And the Freshling knew he was just a volunteer. But no matter how much Vega tried to rationalize it, his heart won out and told him he pretty much abandoned the freshling.

So, without an ounce of sleep and just before dawn, Vega got up to take measurements of the extra room in his apartment. He had made a decision. He would adopt the freshling. Obviously, that was the best option. The impulsive geist grinned to himself, thinking of themes and moving stuff out of the spare room. The freshling would obviously be thrilled when he came to get them!

Username:Shaddaling
Cert:

Prompt 1:2: You saw an ad for the orphanage that struck a chord within you, so you showed up to the orphanage.
Prompt 2:3: You take notice of a child at the coloring table and join them in their artistic endeavors.
Prompt 3:2: You run into a child sitting in the waiting room that wasn't in the play room.

RP Response:
Myreth cooed over her customer as she finished trimming the freshling hair. "There you go, sweetheart. You look lovely, and hair cuts aren't scary, are they, now." She smiled offering the freshling a hand out of the chair and went to ring them up. She took the money from the child's parent and put it in the drawer. "Thank you! See you in three or four months, sweetheart!" She called waving to the freshling as they left.

"That ad is on again."

Myreth looked over, watching the ad for the orphanage and sighed. "They are just sooo brave and it always makes me so sad that they don't have homes or loving parents and I should adopt them all." She gushed, scrubbing at her eyes. Those poor freshlings!

"My, we talked about this. You can't just go around adopting everyone with a sad sob story," her co worker scolded. "And you are still on the clock girl. Get cleaned up and lets get a move on."

“Yes, yes. I knowww but I’m going to visit after work.” Myreth replied, sticking out her tongue and sauntered to the back to clean up a bit. Okay, she got this!

Afterwork she put on her coat and scarf and headed off to the orphanage to check out. It was rather nice looking, really and she was sort of excited. She signed in and headed to the art room to talk to the freshlings.

There was so many! They were all so cute! She gave a soft noise of excitement at all the cuties. “Hi there, I’m Myreth. Mind if I join you?” She asked, cheerfully and walked father in when the freshlings expressed a mix of a acceptance with her joining them. She sat down at the table and gave soft noises at all the art supplies! They were so much. So many! She pulled a set of paints close, checking them over.

Non-toxic and safe for use. “Sooo, does anyone want some face paint?” She questioned, gathering up brushes and some water. She beamed at the elf freshling that sat down by her, excited.

“Can you do flowers?” The child asked.

“Sure can, do you have an idea of what color? Or colors?” Myreth asked, making sure to clean the brushes before dipping the tip into purple and began to paint the start of a purple daisy on the elf forehead. She hummed softly, painting multiple small flowers down the child’s face. “Lovely!”

Myreth spent her time chatting with freshlings as she painted a multiple of faces, flowers, stars, filigree swirls and spots and stripes. Hopefully their caretakers wouldn’t be too upset with her but they weren’t telling her no and it was just so much fun to do something with them. Her fur was getting a bit messy though and her hands were cramping a bit.

She finished with the small shade child that wanted starts and set the brush down, rubbing the kinks out of her hand. A new freshling plopped up, looking up at her. “I wanna do it myself.”

“Ooh is that so? I think I have a hand mirror,” Myreth mused, setting the paints in front of the freshling as she went through her coat pockets and found the compact, opening it. Her shade of powder, check, small mirror, also check! She held it out, steady as the freshling looked at the paints and stuck their fingers into it. “Blue is a good choice.” SHe said and watched the naga messily draw blue markings on their face.

Cute! Myreth smiled watch them smush a blue palm to their race, adding a hand print. “You look sooo cool right now.” She beamed. She tipped her head considering. “What do you think of a bit of orange?” She questioned, looking over the paint critically but not wanting to ruin the freshlings work.

The freshing frowned, thinking before tapping the hand mark. “Here.”

“Okay then.” She dipped the brush into the orange, painting points of pressure onto the hand print and held up the mirror. “Cool?”

“Cool.” THe freshling replied and slid down to join the others. Myreth cleaned up feeling more sure about the idea of adopting a freshling. She would be such a good mom!

She went to leave and paused seeing a freshling in a chair of the waiting room. “Ooh, hello.”She said softly. “Are you waiting for your parents?” She asked, settling in to do the paperwork given to her earlier. She got a bashful nod and fidgeting. “That is wonderful! I’m happy for you… I’m hoping to maybe be able to take someone home too.”

Myreth eyed her paperwork and sighed. “At least when I get this done with.” She hated paperwork it just took so long to do. She paused as small hands tugged on her shirt the freshling looking up uncertain.

“What..”The child started. “What if they change their mind.”

“Why would you think they would change their mind?” Myreth question setting the papers aside. This was more serious. “They are going through all this work to adopt you and they probably talked to you a lot, haven’t they? About where you would be living and the things they bought you for your room and the academy. They are probably so excited to have you live with them.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I would be excited to have you live with me… so I’m sure they are too.” Myreth affirmed. “Everyone a bit nervous, so give them and yourself a few days, okay?”

“Okay.”

Myreth kept the freshling company til their parents came out and finished her paperwork, turning it in. It had been a good day and now she was going to go home and relax.

Username:Random Nobody 13
Cert:
Prompt 1: You wrote a letter to the orphanage a while back and received no response, so you decided to show up in person.
Prompt 2: You sit down in a chair and don't feel drawn any child in particular. However, a child approaches you.
Prompt 3: You run into a child sitting in the waiting room that wasn't in the play room.

RP Response:

It had been weeks. Weeks with no response at all, not a call, not a return letter, not even a post card to show that he'd even written to the orphanage. Micah passed by this one in particular almost every day on his way in to work, and every day he gazed longingly at the freshlings frolicking about. He had Levi, not to mention their occasional third, which honestly should have been enough, but he couldn't help but want a small fluffy child of his own. He'd neglected to mention this to Levi, though he was sure his partner knew; he always did. Instead, Micah had sat down nearly two months ago to pen a letter to the orphanage. In it he'd gushed about wanting a kid, how happy they'd be, what sort of things they could expect if they let a child into his care. He'd even mentioned that he was hallowed, so he wouldn't be discriminating against any child he would get.

And yet: nothing. Not a single thing in response. So today, after work, he'd come to the decision he would simply have to physically show up. After all, it'd be a bit harder to ignore him that way. The building's exterior was exactly the same as it had been every other time he'd walked by: a bit run-down, but still perfectly functional. A sharp sign sat outside proclaiming it to be "No Stone Unturned Orphanage" in looped handwriting. A mural sprawled across the front of the building, the small hand prints outside decorating it a sign that the children had helped along its' construction.The door softly jingled as he entered and once he'd explained his desire to adopt and eagerness to meet some of the children, he was ushered into one of the playrooms.

There were a handful of children in the room, left to play before dinner with just a single caretaker and a pair of visitors in addition to himself to watch them. His gaze wandered the room but he didn't feel like any particular child needed his attention. Since Micah towered over the freshlings, so he was quick to find the smallest chair he could to sit in. Without fail, this was something that made others giggle, this large imposing imp scrunched into this tiny chair that definitely couldn't fit him. Sure enough, within moments of him taking a seat, one of the freshlings approached him.

"Mister, you're too big for that chair!" They said between giggles, hands over their mouth. "You're gonna crush it!"

"Oh no, anything but that!" he dramatically declared, scooting out of the chair to sit on the floor in front of the little one. He spent the next few hours conversing in turn with each of the children, playing with them and then helping out with dinner. As it drew to a close, he woefully bid farewell to the little tykes. While he would have loved to find one to take home with him that night, he should probably speak with his partner about it.

However, as he made his way through the sparse waiting room, there was a lone child waiting there. They had a couple small bags beside them and looked to be waiting for something. "What's goin' on little buddy?" he asked them, crouching down to their level to make them comfortable.

"I'm going home!" they proudly stated, a ragged doll in hand. "I've got a new daddy and he says I'm a surprise!" Micah grinned, delighted to hear the news. To himself, he wondered what kind of surprise the nightmare in question had meant. Instead of standing and saying goodbye, the imp decided to wait a few minutes to meet the nightmare in question. He learned some very interesting facts about the cute little tyke while he waited and he was more than a bit bummed that he hadn't managed to arrive in time to adopt this freshling.

The door to the 'office' of the orphanage clicked open behind him and he turned to see who was adopting this precious child. The poor thing was concerned when he burst into laughter so hard that the sound petered out and he had to hold his stomach because it hurt so badly. For standing there, a sheepish look on his face, was Levi, his mate.

Username: iMoony
Cert:

Prompt 1: You wrote a letter to the orphanage a while back and received no response, so you decided to show up in person.
Prompt 2: You take notice of a child at the coloring table and join them in their artistic endeavors.
Prompt 3: You run into a child sitting in the waiting room that wasn't in the playroom.

RP Response:
Samson was beyond embarrassed by his actions from last week. He wasn't normally one to wallow in self-pity but after seeing a loving family play in the park he found himself heart-broken. Samson really wanted a family, a big one, but he was having no luck in finding mates. While he knew he could imbue a stone on his own, he was honestly a little scared to go it alone. Samson would have his sibling for help, but he didn't want to rely on them too much. Plus, if Samson was to have the ten kids he was hoping for it would be best to have someone to help wrangle the herd in.

This sadness is what brought Samson to writing a letter to the local orphanage pining for a kid. He also asked for a mate but knew that wasn't in the books. (Was he hitting on the caretaker of the orphans? Kind of... But that's without even knowing what they look like.) However, once the Grimm awoke to the harsh light of day he realized how stupid he had been. It was too late to save face, though. The letter had already been picked up. (Samson had run to the mailbox to check as soon as his eyes opened.)

Samson knew he was going to have to apologize. He waited for an embarrassing phone call or letter with terse words but none came. He would have left it except that it kept nagging at him. If Samson was honest with himself it was more than he wanted a response in terms of getting a child but he didn't want to admit that just yet.

His walk into the orphanage was sheepish as he was sure his words would come back to haunt him. The secretary smiled at Samson before asking for his name. When the Grimm gave it, the secretary raised their brows with a side eye look. "Are you the one that wrote the letter?"

Samson groaned but nodded his head. "I'm so sorry about that. It really shouldn't have been sent."

"It's fine. We actually found it funny here. We weren't sure if you were serious though. We assumed you wouldn't show up. It's so great that you're moving forward with your idea of having a child first." The secretary stood up and moved to the end of the desk to usher Samson back. "If you'd follow me, I can show you to the kids."

Samson almost stopped them there. He almost turned around to leave just like he told himself he would do. But something pulled him into following the secretary into the playroom.

"Okay, there's a caretaker in the room already and she'll be keeping an eye on things. Feel free to interact with any of the children... Just don't make any promises you aren't going to keep."

Samson entered slowly, feeling very nervous at the prospect of meeting his future child. That is, assuming he was going to connect with one. He doesn't even have a job yet. Well, he had a part-time one at the market. Samson just didn't know what to do with his life. Maybe being responsible for a child will be what kicks him in the butt to find something to earn money.

He scanned the room full of children. There was so many of them! Samson could feel his eyes tear up at the heartbreak of the situation. He clutched at his chest. A naive side of him wanted to march to the front desk and declare he was taking all of them home. The adult side (the side that was usually quieted) reminded him he only had a part-time job and that might not even be enough for one child.

Samson needed to sit down. He found a nearby table and chairs set that looked big enough for him to take a breather in. Maybe this was a bad idea...

"Do you think this looks like a spectrefox?"

Samson nearly jumped out of his shorts in fright. He hadn't noticed the freshling sitting at the table coloring. The question she had asked settled in his mind as he turned to take a look. The drawing was decent but showed stiff legs and an oblong face. It was clearly a spectrefox, though, as tendrils floated from the creature's body.

"Yeah, it does." Samson smiled at the child.

"Good. I was told by Jeremy that it wasn't but if an unbiased adult says it does then he's wrong. He just wanted to be mean." She went back to coloring. Then a piece of paper was shoved at Samson along with the words "You should draw too. It helps clear your mind so you can make choices."

Samson had never heard of such a thing but did as he was told. This child certainly was bossy. It was kind of endearing. He started to draw while thinking to himself. A few other kids came by while Samson drew and introduced themselves. They all wondered what he was drawing but he told each one it was a secret. Once finished, he folded up the paper and tucked it into his pocket. "Thank you," he said to the child who was still working hard on a scene involving the spectrefox.

"No problem."

Samson headed back out to the hall. He still didn't know what to do, but that girl wouldn't be a bad choice. In fact, the tip to draw had sparked something in him that may very well lead to the answer of what to do for his career. He just hoped there was a way he could do it from home.

While heading to the front Samson noticed a child sitting by themselves in the waiting room. Curious, Samson headed over to them.

"Oh, uh, sir," the secretary said as soon as Samson came into view. "Jeremy is currently in time out. With the Caretakers all busy, I'm keeping an eye on him."

"Does that mean he isn't available to interview?" Samson asked, honestly curious.

"... No, but he isn't in the best of moods right now. He has been saying mean things to the other children and we don't know why he's acting this way."

Samson squatted in front of the boy and peered up into his downturned face. "Hi, I'm Samson. What's your name?"

"Jeremy," the child answered gruffly. "But they already told you that. They also told you that I'm in trouble so I expect you aren't going to want me... No one ever wants me."

The last sentence was muttered and if it weren't for Samson's keen hearing he might not have caught it. But he did hear it and it startled him.

"Are you saying no one has even shown an interest in you before?"

The boy simply nodded. He wiped roughly at his eyes, obviously getting distressed. Samson started shooshing him in a calming manner while hesitantly rubbing his back. "It's okay. I'm sure you'll find a home someday. Hey, can I show you something?"

Jeremy rubbed his eyes and nodded his head, eager to know what Samson had to show. The Grimm took the folded drawing from his pocket and held it out to the boy. Jeremy opened it to find a picture of a giant boot that had windows and a door like a house would. Near the front door stood a Grimm that looked like Samson. This character was surrounded by freshlings and juniors of all sorts from purebloods to hybrids and mutants. Every single character had a smile on their face. Jeremy looked at Samson with a question in his face.

"That's my dream," Samson admitted. "Well, not the shoe part. That's just because I started with the idea of that old rhyme 'There was an old lady who lived in a shoe...' But I could find a house that looks like a giant boot. Surely that's a thing somewhere here in Below..." Samson chuckled and shook his head. "Anyway, I want to be a father with lots of kids. I would accept anyone so long as they're kind. I don't see why you can't be kind. Give it a shot and I would love to have you become part of my family."

Jeremy seemed to think for a moment before nodding his head once. "Okay, I can do that. But you gotta promise you'll come back for me."

Without even thinking Samson put his hand over his heart with a soft smile on his lips. "I promise. I just need to take care of a few things before I can start a family but I promise you'll be part of it."

Jeremy hugged Samson then. The Grimm could hear the secretary behind them groan at the promise they had specifically told Samson not to make, but he didn't care. The little boy's arms around his neck felt right. They felt like a piece of home.

Samson left the orphanage without any children just yet but two on his mind. He would go out and get a job as a children's book illustrator so he could provide for his family. Hopefully one day Samson would find a mate, but for now, a family could be a dad and his adopted children.

Username: Glass Pomegranates
Cert:

Prompt 1: You didn't expect to be here today, but it just happened, and now you're on the orphanage's stoop.
Prompt 2: You sit down in a chair and don't feel drawn any child in particular. However, a child approaches you.
Prompt 3: You decide for some reason that maybe adoption isn't for you, and you go home empty-handed. But later that evening...

RP Response:

Ivor was internally screaming. This could not be happening to him. This was not his routine.

He was leaving work, on his way home after a short shift, when he had to reroute due to construction that had begun during his shift on the main road he took. Everything had been fine, until a cheerful voice had called him over. He turned to the woman, his first mistake, and she waved him over. His second mistake was going over and listening to her.

“You look like you could use a hug! Or a few!” The woman laughed and dragged him inside. There was a huge sign above the door that read “PLAY DATE DAY! MAKE A CHILDS DAY!”. Oh no.

-

The woman steered him around children and adults alike, moving toward a large open living room with a mass amounts of chairs. It was by far less crowded than the other rooms, but there was still a decent amount of people.

“Thank you so much for stopping by! It’s so nice to see young ones willing to help out and consider taking on a child.” What?

As the woman pranced away, Ivor looked around with big eyes, completely out of his depth. He stood still for several minutes, before realizing that several sets of eyes were watching him. He quick found a seat and plopped down, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. Burying himself a little in his hoodie, he looked around to see if the woman was anywhere. Noticing that she wasn’t, the Naga started typing out an ‘SOS’ message to his coworker when he felt a sensation on his tail. Startled, he looked down to see a small child gently touching the soft lavender scales of his tail.

“...pretty...so pretty…”

Ivor could only stare. That...was unexpected. Ivor watched as the child leaned in close to see if they could see their reflection. Frowning, the child resumed its soft touches. Fascinated, Ivor gently wound his tail around the chair, and brought it close to the child. The child opened its eyes wide and squealed. They reached their hands out and caught Ivor, hugging the two-colored tail.

“...I like you…” Ivor felt his phone slip from his hand. The child was looking at him with big eyes and he gave a shy smile, ducking his head. The little one grinned and let go of the Naga’s tail, moving around it to pick up Ivor’s dropped phone.

“...shiny!” Ivor nodded. The child, like himself, seemed to be one of few words, which seemed to alienate them from the rest of the children that were surrounded by adults and staff.

“It is. Would you like to see what it can do?” The child gaped at him, shaking their head rapidly. Ivor smiled softly, slid off the chair, and curled his tail around him. The patted the coil, and the child climbed up, holding the phone out.

-

When the child’s eyes got droopy, Ivor paged down a staff member. The house had cleared out, and he was one of the last few hanging around. The child gave him a hug and gently touched his hair, before being carried off by the staff member. Ivor watched the little one go, before standing up and leaving.

Ivor kept his head down as he walked home, music low in his ears. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had done something outside his routine, and it was a nice experience. Tomorrow would be a new day though, and back to the normal in and out.

Closing the door behind him, Ivor made a beeline to his room, removing his hoodie along the way. Upon arriving at his room, he tossed the hoodie on the chair right next to his bed and moved into said bed. Getting comfortable, he reached over to his hoodie and removed his phone. Unlocking it, he double clicked the home button to clear his apps, pausing when he noticed his drawing application open. It was a silly application, as it no good tools, but it was useful for quick pose references for combat stances his actors would need. Clicking on the app to open it, he felt his breath hitch at the sight.

It must have happened when several staff members had come into the living room and introduced themselves and the building. The whole speech was around thirty minutes, but that was apparently enough time for the little one.

Staring back at him on the dim, orange colored screen, was a drawing. It was very rough in form, but it was clear what it was.

Staring back at him was a drawing of him and the little one, appearing to be sleeping on a mound of pillows. He had his tail coiled around the small body and the child was hugging him. Noticing an arrow, Ivor clicked on it and let out a sob.

More drawings followed. So many tiny sketches stared back at him, each maybe taking five minutes to make. They all were of him and the little one. They were baking in one, playing on his phone in another, reading in the one after. The last photo though. The last photo had him crying.

Again, it was of the little one and him, but this one seemed to be the most detailed, though still very rough. It was of him and the little one, surrounded by presents. Lots of little squares with circles on top, the little one a stick figure with a triangle hat. Covering his mouth with his free hand, Ivor stared at the image. This little one...was just like him. Alone, wanting more but unable to ask.

Screenshotting the image, he did a quick internet search of the adoption house, saved the number and vowed to go back the next day. Breathing in and out, Ivor plugged his phone and nestled into his blankets, closing his eyes. Moments later, he opened them and reached out for his phone.

Having made the picture his lock screen, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, excited, for once, that his life would be different starting tomorrow.

Please quote me to let me know if you accept!

;U; I/XIAH ACCEPT(S)