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 Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:37 am
Juno was completely at a loss of what to do with the kid, now that Leviathan had worked himself up and was refusing to be brought down. How was he supposed to get it to stop crying? It wasn’t listening to anything he said! He tried stroking Levi’s hair, making vague little hushing noises, but again nothing worked. Levi was insisting on screaming. Juno got the feeling that if he left the boy alone and stopped paying attention to him, he would probably stop crying. But that was still bad form.
Rook’s intrusion into the incident didn’t make matters any better. Juno looked over at him. “Rook, I didn’t do anything! It fell down and now it won’t listen to me!” He looked down at Leviathan, still screaming away, and then back to Rook. “I don’t know any children’s songs,” he said simply. Juno was not musical in the slightest, anyway. Thinking quickly, he shifted Leviathan onto one hip, went into the kitchen, and dug into his freezer. He didn’t entirely remember the situation surrounding the purchase of popsicles—he had some vague idea that Sable had been involved—but he hadn’t eaten any since he purchased them. They were all still there.
Pulling one out, he unwrapped it and offered it to the kid. “Here, you,” he said as gently as he could. “It’s cold and it’ll make your mouth feel better, yeah?”
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:09 am
Oh? What's this? The peace offering made Leviathan shut his mouth, tears trickling down his face as he eyed the tantalizing treat. It was purple! Amused and driven by the need to put everything and anything in his mouth, the boy reached forward and snatched it away from Juno. He immediately stuck the popsicle in his mouth, gurgling happily. It tasted so good! "Urple!" he gurgled around the messy snack, suddenly too busy sucking to realize his mouth still kind of hurt.
Rook relaxed once his brother silenced. "...well, that worked as good as anything." He eyed Juno. "Just don't...hurt him again, or whatever. I'll get in trouble." Even if he was peeved with Juno, he still wouldn't sell him out to Sable or Eden. Besides, if they thought he was an unfit babysitter, maybe they'd stop making him do it. He inspected Leviathan quickly before nodding to Juno and making a beeline for the couch. Why didn't he get paid to put up with this nonsense?
Levi, meanwhile, was happily clinging to Juno with one hand and holding the melting mess with the other, his injury all but a distant memory. "Nummy!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:31 am
Juno smiled in a truly unpleasant, self-satisfied way when the kid shut his mouth on the popsicle. The fact that Levi felt the need to announce the treat’s colour didn’t faze Juno in the least; as long as Levi wasn’t crying he could do whatever he damn well pleased, short of ruining anything important or doing anything that would result in his getting hurt. Juno got the feeling that if Levi got hurt, Sable would probably automatically assume it had something to do with him. Most of the time, Sable assumed bad things had something to do with him. “Yeah, purple,” he agreed, still just relieved that the boy wasn’t screaming. “Grape flavoured, too.”
When Rook mentioned getting in trouble, Juno blinked. If he were a different sort of man, he might have been touched at the Nobody’s loyalty. As it were, he was simply satisfied that he still had a stable enough hold on Rook to keep him loyal to him. “I don’t plan on hurting him, and it wasn’t my fault the first time,” he answered. He followed Rook into the living room, stroking the Nobody’s hair as if he were a favourite pet who had just satisfactorily performed a difficult trick for the first time.
Levi’s voice brought Juno back from a semi-daydream into the real world. He looked at the baby and winced when he saw the purple treat melting all down Levi’s arm. HE wasn’t entirely sure if he’d be able to get purple syrup stains out of his lab coat. He glanced once at the floor; thank god he had chosen tile for the living room. “I’m going to put you down now,” he said, gently re-settling Levi so he was seated on the tile, which was more easily cleaned than white jackets. He himself sat down next to Rook, watching Leviathan from a disinterested distance.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:08 am
'Grape' did not yet exist to little Leviathan. As far as he was concerned, the delicious popsicle was flavored 'purple'. So the next time he wants one, that is exactly what he will ask his father for, and poor Sable will have no clue what the boy wants. He will also probably blame Juno. But this was not a problem for the toddler. All he wants to do was eat his treat until it was gone.
Rook hesitated as Juno began to stroke his head, not entirely sure if he wanted to be rewarded for defending his master, so to speak. It was, however, far better than being punished or yelled at, heart's knew he and Sable clashed much more than was healthy. That in mind, the ashen-skinned youth leaned back against the chair, making a faint noise something like a purring cat. A large, man-eating cat.
Leviathan frowned as Juno put him down. He pulled the melting posicle out of his mouth. "No!" he exclaimed, throwing the melted goo onto the floor. He held his hands up towards Juno. He didn't want to be ignored! "Play!" he tried again. Maybe he'd figured out how to play by now.
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Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:06 pm
Juno was petting Rook's hair more for the familiarity of the action than for anything else. He liked the feel of the Nobody's hair, and Juno was the kind of man who did what felt nice, screw the ethics or sense of it. He smirked a little bit when Rook settled against him and purred, pleased as always that Rook liked him much better than his actual guardian.
It was a moment of relaxation for a moment, and then Levi decided that he needed more attention. Juno, never good with anything high-maintenance, frowned down at Levi and the mess he was making. "Leviathan," he said levelly, keepign his voice pleasant in spite of his distatste of the mess the boy was making, "I will play with you if you help me clean up and then get yourself cleaned up, okay?"
He didn't know much about children's games, but he figured he could probably cobble something together. If Leviathan helped reconcile himself with the mess. Juno stood, looking at Rook with a mild frown, and walked into the kitchen. He came back with a roll of paper towels. "You wanna help me wipe up this mess so we can play, Levi?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:19 pm
Leviathan huffed a sigh, not too keen on Juno's deal. But if that was going to be the only way he was going to get to play...then he could do it, he supposed. Just a little, though. Clean-up was something daddies did. It was his job to make something for his daddy to clean up. He slowly nodded, getting on his knees before hauling himself to his feet, wobbling around a little.
He toddled over to Juno, latching on to his leg and looking up expectantly. He couldn't reach the paper towels. They were all the way up on the counter, and Daddy said he wasn't allowed there. He tugged on Juno's pant leg, making a soft noise as he leaned against the man. Except, it seemed Juno had other plans. Levi fell back as Juno walked off without him, whimpering softly until he returned. He reached up, making grabby hands. "I help!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 6:53 pm
Juno remained almost completely oblivious to the child, unable or possibly unwilling to pick up the subtle signs the boy was sending him. It simply never occurred to him that Levi would want to come into the kitchen with him to pick up the paper towels. And he had barely felt the boy clinging to his pant legs.
Distancing yourself from the rest of humanity for thirty-five years came back to bite you in the a** when you ended up with a child, apparently. He crouched down and smiled a little bit at Levi, tearing off a paper towel and handing it to him. "I'll pick up the stick and most of it, and then you lay this towel down on the puddle, all right?" With an expression of obvious distaste, he bundled the unmelted popsicle and stick into one paper towel and tossed it into the grocery bag he'd brought out to store the mess.
Juno wasn't entirely opposed to getting sticky in very specific situations. This wasn't one of them. He heartily wished for a pair of rubber gloves as the purple syrup seeped through the towel. "People should get paid for having children," he murmured under his breath. Then he looked at Levi. "You're doing good, kid."
Huge words of praise, coming from Juno.
{{Yes, the last few sentences are anticipating Levi's actions. Sry if that counts as powerplaying.}}
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:31 am
Leviathan stared up at Juno but soon found trying to grab the paper towels to be more interesting. He snatched the one the scientist handed him eagerly, making happy gurgling noises. He flopped the towel down on the small purple puddle eagerly, much like a cat pouncing on a small bug. He clapped his hands as the towel started to absorb the sticky mess. "I clean! I help!" he cooed happily.
Rook looked over as his television show ended. "We need to get back," he rumbled, standing with a stretch and a groan. "Sable will be back soon and will likely blow a fuse if his baby is missing," the youth sneered, sauntering over. He looked down at the small child wiping up the floor. "Say bye to Juno."
Leviathan looked up, smile falling. "No play?" he asked, wibbling.
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:52 am
Juno smiled a little bit when Levi got so excited about helping him. The boy really was rather endearing, insofar as sticky children could be endearing. When Rook cut in, he looked up and nodded, realizing that he was a little bit disappointed that his son had to go again. "That's probably best, then," he said eventually. Then he looked at Levi. "I'll come visit you, and we can play then, Leviathan, okay?" he asked, smiling warmly at the boy.
He didn't mention that if he ever tried to visit, Sable would probably try to kill him. He needed desperately to talk to Sable anyway, and perhaps the boy could become a catalyst in something like reparations. Juno regretted that their contact had ended as disastrously as it had.
But those were thoughts for another time. Juno stood up, picking up Leviathan as he did so, and handed him to Rook. "Thanks for bringing him by, and thank you for coming as well. You're welcome any time you want to come, kid or not," he added, stroking Rook's hair fondly and then ruffling Levi's.
"It's been interesting, boys."
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