|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 12:19 pm
Orin was old enough that he didn't need a babysitter. At twelve? Please. He didn't even get into any trouble. He could do his chores, keep the house locked up, feed himself, watch television—he was a good kid. Didn't make messes or get into things he wasn't supposed to.
It was just that he'd gotten sick.
It hadn't lasted for a long time—just day or two. His father had taken the day off, pampered him and made sure he was comfortable, but he was still reluctant to go back to work without making sure someone was around to look after Orin.
Dresden had called someone up—given them all the details, warned them about Orin's condition, and then had to leave for work. He wished he could stay to meet her—to make sure she showed up, and that Orin was taken care of, but there was an emergency at the restaurant and he didn't quite get his way.
So, there was Orin, dressed in his pajamas and an overlarge sweatshirt and his favorite pair of cow print socks, scuttling across the ground as he waited impatiently. He wasn't interested in dressing up nicely anymore than he was interested in staying in bed and 'recuperating'. He just wanted to meet this person, make friends, and find some way to convince them it was totally fine for him to go out and play.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 8:51 pm
Juniper was glad she had some sort of job. Even if it was a babysitting gig. She really needed to get off her butt and do something to earn a bit of money. What had she done since she graduated? A big fat pile of nothing, that’s what. Besides. She needed money to take her…her girl out on a date or two.
Ahaha…her girl. What a fun thing to say…even if it wasn’t totally legit, it still mostly sort of felt like it. After all, they had kissed…so that meant something, that was for sure.
Anyway. Right now she had to focus on the task at hand…and that was babysitting this kid for the night. The dad had sounded downright panicked on the phone, and Juniper had hurried over as fast as she could. Right now she had the house in sight and was about to knock on the door.
She really hoped this kid was a good kid and didn’t cause too much trouble for her…or seriously, she would lose it. Though…she was supposed to like kids. Anella liked kids after all. She wanted kids. And lots of them.
The green haired girl sighed, then knocked on the door of the house, rocking back on her heels just slightly. Well. Here goes nothing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:04 pm
The moment someone knocked on the door, Orin ran to it. He fumbled with the lock for a short moment, not because he didn't know how to open it but because over the years it had gotten a little banged up. Mostly because he was a little overenthusiastic when it came to locking and unlocking the door.
Within a few seconds, though, the door swung open and he looked up at the girl with a scrutinous gaze.
Well, she didn't look like a robber or a witch, so that was already a plus in his book. "Hi," he greeted, shuffling to one side to let her in. He paused, then, as if realizing that there was a possibility she was not his babysitter. "—I'm Orin. Did my dad call you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:12 pm
Juniper blinked. Oh. This kid wasn’t a little kid at all. He must have been at least ten. At least.
“I think so. Is your dad the one who sounded like he was about to start crying because he had to run into work and I wasn’t here yet…if so…yep. And yeah. I’m looking for an Orin. I’m Juniper. Nice to meet you.” She gave a little grin, holding out a hand.
“I heard you were sick or something…you don’t look young enough to have a babysitter, how old are you? Ten? Eleven? I don’t know.” She glanced around, trying to peer into the house. “So uh…can I come in maybe? I’m supposed to be watching you for tonight. I brought some popcorn and candy and some DVD’s and I thought we could just hang?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:20 pm
The girl's description of his father was unfortunately accurate, though Orin didn't think any less of him. There was nothing wrong with worrying for your wonderful, perfect only son and being upset that you couldn't spend all day with him, after all.
"Hi, Juniper, it's nice to meet you. You can come in, I just wanted to make sure you weren't a robber, first," he said, keeping to formalities before he jumped into defending himself, "And I am old enough to take care of myself. I'm twelve. Dad was just really worried because I was sick earlier and he thinks I'm going to die. He was probably only rushing to work because he was afraid he was going to have to start saving up for a hospital bill. But he's not going to—I'm feeling fine, honest. Well, I'm a little cold. And really hungry. But dad doesn't think I'm old enough to really be using the stove and our microwave is broken, so I can't make lunch. Unless I can just eat candy," he said, waggling his eyebrows enthusiastically as he looked towards her bag. "What movies did you bring?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:58 pm
Juniper laughed. “Smart kid. I could have very well been a robber. I hate robbers, don’t you? Scary things they are.” She nodded. He was old enough to be on his own, and he knew it. But if he was sick, well then that made some sense. “Well. If you’re hungry, we can order a pizza or something. Pizza, popcorn, candy and Disney movies…how does that sound? Personally, I think it sounds like a pretty awesome day if I do say so myself.”
She grinned, making her way into the house. So…maybe she wouldn’t be making too much money on this babysitting gig. Not if she had to buy the kid pizza…oh well. At least it didn’t look like he was going to be a nightmare to babysit…that was a real relief. She had watched too many youtube videos of kids who did terrible things to their babysitters…
“Just do me a favor…and don’t like…run away or anything okay? I don’t want to have to call the cops or get your dad on my case.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:27 am
"Run away?" Orin wrinkled his nose. "Why would I run away? I like my house." He closed the door behind her, careful to lock it. It wasn't that they lived in a very dangerous neighborhood, but his father had constantly stressed locking the door and it was finally starting to sink in.
When he finished, he wiped his hands off on each other pleasantly, as if he had been involved in hard labor, and turned to Juniper. "If you want to order pizza, I won't stop you. But chicken nuggets sound good, too. Especially for movies."
How could he turn down Disney movies? There were a fine number of kids his age that had sworn them off and proclaimed they were childish but Orin didn't care. He enjoyed them, and he was going to continue enjoying them, and if Juniper had movies he didn't have, he was going to watch all of them. "You seem nice," he decided, trailing close to her. "What made you want to babysit?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:50 am
Juniper laughed. “Hey, I’ve seen a lot of videos where the kids who are being babysat do all sorts of things to try and get the one watching them into trouble. You can’t be too careful, let me tell you.” She Stretched, then walked over to the couch, flopping down. “I always thought pizza was best for movies…thought I suppose I could go and get you come chicken nuggets…but that would mean I’d have to leave you alone for a little bit or something. I don’t think your dad would like that. Besides…I’m feeling super lazy, so pizza sounds fantastic.”
She grinned. “And uh…you know. I just graduated High school…so I was hoping for a job to have some money…I have things that I want to do…you know?” The girl shrugged. “Eh. I’m not making any sense, I’m sorry. What do you like on your pizza? Anything you want, I’m sure that they make it an awesome pizza, if you want.”
The girl drew out her cell phone and began looking up nearby pizza places. “So, lay it on me, What do you want on your pizza?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:51 am
"We have chicken nuggets," Orin said, though wasn't going to turn down pizza now that she made such a good argument. "I like anything on my pizza. You could get peppers or anchovies or anything and I'd eat it!"
Though he knew he wasn't going to be able to sit still for long, it didn't stop the boy from climbing up on the couch and resting against the armrest. He loomed closer to see what she was doing on her phone, and though he was trying to be a bit discrete, he was failing miserably.
"Congrats on graduating high school," he added a few seconds later. "I'm still in Knightside, but in a few years I'll be in high school. Are you going to college? I wanna be a vet. And then retire and be a farmer. What do you want to do?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:46 pm
Juniper nodded. So the chicken nuggets would at least be free…Well…that sounded like a good idea now.
“How about…I make some chicken nuggets for us to snack on while we wait for the pizza…? That way we don’t get too hungry as they take their time feeding us? Sound good to you, Orin?” She punched in a few things on her pizza place app and grinned. “Okay. Ordered, a large pepperoni pizza for the two of us…and some of their yummy dessert sticks too. I’m hoping you like sweet things, because I do.”
The green haired girl flopped backwards on the couch again, trying to make herself more comfortable. “So, I brought about four movies, I figure we can get through most of them before we have to part ways tonight. And hey. If not, maybe your dad will decide you need a babysitter again sometime!”
She laughed, drawing some DVD’s out of her bag and putting them all next to Orin. “Your pick first. You can set up the movie and I'll put in the chicken nuggets."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:32 pm
"Wow!" Orin exclaimed; she was already his favorite babysitter. No yelling, no demanding he go to his room, no funny old lady who smelled like mothballs…
Movies and pizza—how could it get any better?
"I'll tell dad I want you as my baby sitter next time! I like you!" he said; he didn't glance at the movies for more than a few seconds before he grabbed one—the Lion King—even if it was one that he owned. "We can watch The Santa Clause, next! You have to watch it more than just at Christmas time, you know. I like you."
He pressed some buttons on the DVD player rapidly, inserting the disc and then scrambling back over to the couch. He didn't even feel bad about someone coming over to babysit, but he didn't want to admit it. "Maybe instead of calling it babysitting, we can call it hanging out? You seem cool, I'd like to hang out with you."
…Or anyone; he couldn't go a few hours alone without feeling needy for conversation. But Juniper, especially, because she was nice and cool.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:18 pm
Juniper laughed. Well maybe she liked this kid a lot. “Okay, you sit tight, let me go get us some munchies.”
The girl stood up and walked into the kitchen, grabbing the box of nuggets out of the freezer and preheating the oven. She leaned against the counter as she waited for the heat to rise enough to cook with when something that was sticking out of a backpack caught her eye.
Frowning slightly, the girl walked over to it, withdrawing what looked like a henshin pen out of what had to be Orin’s backpack. There…was no way this was his. Right? It couldn’t be…but then why did he have it?
She walked into the living room again. “Hey…Orin, what’s this thing? It was sticking out of your backpack…” There was no need to accuse the boy…but if he was a senshi…well. Then they’d just have something else in common, now wouldn’t they?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:38 pm
A wave of fear flooded Orin when his eyes landed on the pen. He was easy to read—eyes wide and frozen. "It's a pen," he said slowly, worrying that she might be one of the bad people he'd been warned about. "…But it doesn't really write or anything. If you need to write I can get you something else. I have lots of markers, so you can just put that one back, please. I only keep it because I like it."
…And he wanted to be a superhero and save the world, so pleasepleaseplease don't let her be a bad guy because he really didn't want her to rat him out to his father—or worse, hurt him.
While he didn't like lying, he told himself that he had to—no matter how much it upset him. He stood hastily and began shuffling to his room, hoping he might be able to distract her with some of his super cool, scented markers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:07 pm
Juniper sighed. This kid had too much fear in his eyes to have the pen not be his. And his excuses were pretty pathetic, to be honest. Juniper hated liars, but sometimes she did know it was necessary…and with being a senshi it was necessary…but you had to be better at it than Orin was being right now.
She walked over to the boy, handing him the pen. “I don’t want any markers, but seriously, Orin…this isn’t something you can just let hang out of your backpack. You have to keep it secret, keep it safe…people shouldn’t be able to just find it like I did.”
The girl reached into her own pocket, drawing out her henshin pen. “See? Mine wasn’t easy to find, not at all…now…come on and sit back down. I didn’t realize that there were senshi as young as you…I do hope you’ll fill me in?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:19 am
Orin looked guilty as he reached out to take his pen, though the sight of hers left him looking confused and flustered. "Wait, you're a senshi?" he asked, reaching out to poke hers.
His eyes lit up, "I've never met one older than me! Though to be honest, I really only just found out I was a senshi a few days ago! I met a girl, Lenka, and a cat, Julienne, do you know them?" he didn't pause to let her answer, "Promise, nobody else has seen it. But I was at home and didn't think it was out that much. I was just trying to make sure I had my homework done, and I kept it in my bag in case I had some emergency. I didn't want dad to find it—Lenka and Julienne said I couldn’t let him know or he could be in danger."
He drew in a quick breath and relaxed. "You scared me, though. I don't know what I would have done if you had been one of the bad people! I'm sorry I lied," he apologized, seeming earnest. "I hate it, I really do. I wish I could just tell everyone and be honest, but I don't want to get in trouble or get anyone hurt. And I wish I could answer questions and all, but…I'm still learning, myself. I probably have more questions than I do answers."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
