Closed Babysitting Misadventures

[Diamond Michaels]

Dia was looking forward to spending the day with her uncle Zennon- he was a bit funny, but most adults were. She skipped up to his front door, knocking a little ditty before stepping back and pulling her bag up on her shoulder. Usually her mom walked her to the door, loving to "annoy him" as she put it. Dia knew Jett was off for some lessons or the other again- he was so smart, and she adored him to pieces, even if all the lessons did leave her to her devices a lot. Still, it meant she could have Uncle Zennons attention to herself. Though he was taking forever (a few moments) to open the door. She sighed dramatically, draping herself against it, pressing her cheek to the wood and her palms to it above her head. "You're so sloooow, have you fallen and can't get up?" She called, pouting- and putting too much of her weight on the door.

 

[Zennon Baros]

He heard the knock - a jaunty little rhythm like Dia usually did - and he smiled, heading over to the door, but not rushing because he wasn’t silly - he was a healer and he didn’t want to have to heal himself. Clearly someone was in a rush though. Just as he made to reach for the handle, her little voice came thought the door, dramatic, mournful and he laughed at the scene he could see unfolding in his mind, her smooshed up against the wood of the door like she was in some tragic play, he laughed at the thought and then pulled the door open, she felt forward into him and he had to scramble to catch her. “I didn’t fall, but I suppose I can endure such ridicule for you, tiny drama queen.” he swung the door open fully, “get in here before I decide to drop you.”​

 

[Diamond Michaels]

Dia yelped as she fell forward, bracing to hit the floor- but thankfully, he caught her. She looked up to him through her hair, giggling breathlessly. "You know you love me," She countered, straightening with maybe a little bit of help. She wandered past him, dropping her bag on the floor and climbing into a chair, turning to face him. "Now get some drinks because I have stuff to tell you," She tried to sound regal, waving him around like an oversized servant. "And you're going to pretend Mama hasn't already told you everything probably."

 

[Zennon Baros]

“Oof,” Zennon made a little display as she fell into him and he let her go as she scampered away and into one of his chairs. She reminded him so much of Sapphire it wasn’t funny. Granted he didn’t know Sapphire when she was this young, but the way she danced through her life definitely was like her. There were elements of Chrysander in there too, which was maybe a little unfortunate, and he hoped the guy would step up to the plate a little bit if only to let Dia and her brother get to know him, but he’d heard from Rowan about how Honey was like with her father, so he wasn’t sure. Maybe the woman he was sort of seeing, what was her name? Luna? He vaguely remembered her from school, perhaps she could pull him into line. “Of course your Royal Highness,” he said, bowing low with a flourish. “I shall fetch the sacred juice goblets at once, and I will absolutely pretend that your mother did not already send me seventeen messages about ‘the incident’ and a photo of your face during it.” he didn’t know what specific incident he was talking about but there was probably something, he and Sapphire spoke on a semi regular basis these days, especially since Finley was at school. He pulled out his wand, “Do you want apple, orange, or that weird pink one that tastes like secrets and bubblegum lies?”​

 

[Diamond Michaels]

Dia settled in, wrinkling her nose at the options he gave her. "The only place that pink imposter should go is down the sink. Apple please," She requested, before shaking her head at him. "Mom wasn't there and you know it!" She countered. "But I'm going to tell you in excruciating detail anyway so hurry up and get over here, you slow old dinosaur," She stuck her tongue out at him, before offering him an impish smile. Teasing uncle Zennon was half of the fun, after all.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon laughed, the kind that bounced around the room, it was so simple and easy to smile and laugh when Dia was around and he missed her incredibly when she was gone. Honestly he just adored kids, and sometimes he wondered what his life would have been like without Finley - certainly not this wonderful surely. “I’ll have you know I fought valiantly in the juice wars of ‘57.” He said, reminding her. Maybe she wouldn’t remember she would have only been tiny then. He waved his hand for the apple juice, and then presented it to her with a flourish. “Your apple elixir, young empress,” he said before grabbing a second glass for himself - something fizzy and adult that probably had too much ginger in it for Dia’s taste - and then shook his head at her. “Alright then, spill. And be warned, if this story doesn’t include at least one act of rebellion and a shocking twist ending, I will be docking storytelling points.” He wisely chose not to comment on her calling him an old dinosaur.​

 

[Diamond Michaels]

Dia accepted his offering, sitting back, crossing her legs the other way and flipping her hair. "Well, you are only proving how old you are," She teased, taking a long sip of her juice. Content that she'd let him stew a moment, she flashed him an impish grin. "Well," She began, dramatically. "It was a really very boring day, so of course I had to do something about it. After thinking long and hard, I snuck off to the park alone." She used her best storyteller voice, trusting Zennon to let her tell the story without getting upset with her. "I was on the swings, seeing how high I could go, when the cutest girl came up asking to join me," She smirked, barely containing her excitement. "We had a marvelous time, talking, getting to know each other." She paused there, sipping her juice and hopefully leaving him in suspense.

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon was ready, watching her settle in as she seemed to call all of the dramatic flair to her. “Only proving how old I am? Dia, I creaked when I sat down. I’m practically fossilised,” okay so that wasn't true, but he was definitely older than Dia, and older than he was last year. That thought made him laugh, he never would have guessed where he would be today at her age. He listened as she spoke, the story not quite flowing but doing a good enough job that he was at least able to follow along. He resisted the very real instinct to give her a lecture about wandering off alone. She knew him too well, and the trust in her eyes was unmistakable—this wasn’t a moment for scolding. This was a story. his chin rested on his hand when she got to the part about the cutest girl. "Ah, a character introduction, I knew there'd be one somewhere." he hoped she wouldn't leave him hanging.​

 

[Diamond Michaels]

Dia giggled, ignoring him mostly and continuing on, pleased he was playing along. "Well, she had an adult with her. Boring, I know- luckily for me mom had taken Jett off to one of his clubs or something." She waved her hand dismissively, not recalling where he'd gone off to in the moment. "But her adult- he was familiar, but weirdly so, you know? Like out of a dream or something. It took me a minute, but can you guess who he was?" She slapped her hand on the table, getting worked up. "He was my fuuuu-" She almost cursed, but stopped, sparing a glance at Zennon as she corrected herself. "My freaking dad! You know, that guy with the crazy name? Chrysanthemum." She nodded, knowing the name was wrong but enjoying the act of getting it wrong. "And that cute girl? Honey! My sister," She spoke like it was the most awe-inspiring revelation in the entire world.