Swings and Toddlers and Slides - Oh My!

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

Benjamin felt abandoned. With his mother pregnant and taking care of his two younger siblings, Benjamin was spending time with his father. Unfortunately, he and his father were very different. And so, while his father appeared to like running around with his friends, doing whatever it was a losing Quidditch team did in their off hours, Benjamin was placed in a place slightly better than the hands of his father - daycare. But not just any daycare, magical child daycare that thought it was great to force him outside without a book. Benjamin, while only five, was much more accustomed to the gentle, non-judgemental pages of a book. His speech was flawed, and it made him embarrassed. He would much rather never speak and just read books. He didn't care if the books were too complex for his young mind at times, or in another language. As long as he had a book in his lap and words in front of him, the young blond felt more comfortable and confident in himself.
Benjamin slowly toddled out across the grass with the other children. All together, little boys and girls skipped away with their friends, ready to roll in the dirt, colour in pictures of fantastic beasts with coloured quills, and play on little brooms - but not Benjamin. While his father was a Quidditch player, the small boy could not have less of an interest in the sport, and preferred to stay away from brooms. While not quite to the extent of having a fear of flying, he was uncomfortable by it.
Benjamin ran off to the playground, and hauled himself up on the first platform, before walking over to climb through the vertical hoops that spiralled around in an upwards direction to what could be considered a watch tower of some sort. Once the young part-veela reached the top, he plopped himself down in the corner, curled up in such a way that the overbearing witch that was watching the children could not see him. She was trying to get him to play with others. Benjamin Kaster did not play with other children. He only played with his little sister and brother, and that was because they would let him read. Wincing a little as he pulled a book from his chest, he realised that the book - which he was incapable of reading - had been poking into his side. The book was quite thick, and far beyond the reading level of a five-year-old, but it was the only one he could get his hands on as they walked past shops. He could look at the skilfully drawn pictures of plants and imagine what they were. That would be good enough for him.
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[Clara Hayes]

Clara wasn't sure if she was in a good mood, or a bad one. She had been perfectly happy with her Daddy and CamDaddy so she didn't understand why she had to be here now. It wasn't that she didn't like the place and it was really cool that she could play with all sorts of magic things. Like a broom and they had a few wands too! (the fact that they were fake seemed to escape her) However all she cared about was her beloved stuffed toys, all of which were safe and sound with Daddy and CamDaddy and not here with her. She pulled her bear tight. The only one she had been able to grab before she had been shipped out to this place was the little bear in her hands and she didn't know how she felt about that. Frowning as one of the other children tried to take her bear, Clara tugged on it furiously until it was torn out of her arms and lay on the floor, its arms hanging by a thread.

Clara stamped her foot in anger and ran to attack the child, only to be pulled away and told to go outside and cool off, whilst they fixed her bear. Clara didn't understand how that could be fair at all. Never-the-less, Clara did as she was told and humphed the entire way to the jungle gym where she proceeded to glare at the other kids, non-threateningly until they finally decided to move. Not that Clara would have known what to do if they hadn't moved. She was particularly violent, she was just sad and angry that some big ol' meanie had killed her best friend. It wasn't fair! She wasn't the one who killed Mr Ted, why should she be punished? She thought that this place was full of nice people, but it appeared as thought she was rather a little wrong.

It wasn't until Clara saw someone climbing through the Jungle Gym and up to the top that she became interested in associating with anyone else again. Tilting her head slightly and being careful not to rip her clothes, Clara made her way to following the boy. He seemed to be the same age as her, at least she thought so, but she was only five, so what would she know? Being careful not to fall, Clara stumbled more then once on her way to reach him, she stopped however, before she reached the top and knocked somewhere she thought he would be able to hear her. No-one could accuse Clara of not being polite. "Scuse me. I join?" She really hoped he wouldn't say no. She didn't want to have to go back down again.​

 

[Rin Tsukino]

Rin was in one of the best moods she had ever been since the death of her biological parents. She was quite contented with the life she was currently having with the Tsukinos and though there were some problems because her new father had problems about her having magic, it was settled easily and quickly with them accepting who she was. Besides, Ryuuji-niisan also had magic so she thought that it was the reason they had accepted it so easily. Although, she had to admit that she had to deal with a jealous older sister, she had been enjoying her time. And now, was probably one of the better days she was having. She and Ryuuji-niisan had just arrived in New Zealand two days ago, particularly because of their father wanting to introduce her older brother to the world of business and such. Rin had the choice to stay home with Harumi-neesan to take care of Akemi or come with Ryuuji-niisan and she chose the latter. It was more fun for her to travel after all, though she had to admit that joining the two men with their business was no fun for her at all, and so she literally had to beg her older brother to show her the magic world, knowing that it was not too far away. Luckily, he obliged to her wishes and since he and their father still had business (which the younger was not happy about), he had entered her to a magic daycare for the time being and Rin had to admit that she was all too contented about it.

It was quite a breather for her to see the use of magic once again especially with those the same age as her. She had enjoyed quite a bit of her time though she still much preferred to be solitary silence if she was in an environment wherein she barely knew the people around. And so, she grabbed her small bag which contained a storybook, a coloring book and crayons and went outside to the playground where she was greeted with the sight of more kids playing with wands and brooms, magical quills and many other things she would not want to bother herself with at the moment. She continued her little skips and strides until she reached the jungle gym which apparently had just been evacuated saved for two children at the top. Being one with the curious mind, Rin climbed with her bag slung over her shoulder. She wasn't athletic, thus the climb proved hard for the young Japanese. She had slipped more that once and bumped several parts of her body in a not so gentle way. She knew she was going to have bruises later on but that thought was in the back of her mind as she finally reached the top. "Hello there. What is... are... is you doing? I... want to... join?" she slightly stumbled in her words, not sure if the other kids even understood her English. She was only five after all, and it was not like she could learn English so fast, though she was pretty sure she said the stuff right. And she wished they would not make her go down already, she might just fall instead of climbing down.

 

[Rafaelle Kaster-Smith]

Rafaelle had been staying with his mother while his father was away losing Quidditch matches. Rafaelle could barely keep his fury under control whenever he learnt about his father's games. It made the young Quidditch fan devastated that his daddy worked so hard and yet his team stunk. The young man was so grumpy that his mother decided that he could not be trusted in the shop, and so sent him outside to cool off. But Raf wasn't silly, he knew that she was still watching him - his mother would never let him go outside without someone watching him. He pulled his hoodie over his head as he trudged through the park. He couldn't pronounce the name of the place, but it was his home. And there were intruders. The small boy was not going to stand for this. These other kids needed to learn a lesson and he was just the one to teach it to them. Never mind he was five, he knew he'd be able to show them who was boss. This was Rafaelle's home! Running towards the other children, Rafaelle targeted a small brunette girl with what looked like a little teddy. What. A. Baby. The small blond strolled up to the girl confidently, and began tearing the bear from her grasp. She pulled, he pulled, and soon the little critter was torn so badly that no-one would love it. She went to attack him, but the carers stepped in, thinking that he was one child among a dozen and completely skipping the fact that he should not have been there - what did they call him? Ben? He shrugged and ignored them, as he was far too pleased with himself to listen to others.

Finding the jungle gym interesting, Rafaelle began going that way, and quickly climbed the gym. He had been climbing this thing all his life - he made it to his desired destination rather quickly, totally ignoring the two girls as he climbed behind, over and in front of them. However, he paused when he saw who was on top. His cousin, Benjamin. "Oooh," he gasped, realising that Benjamin was now going to get in trouble for his behaviour. What a bonus! "Ben!" He ran to hug his cousin, ignoring the fact that he probably wouldn't like it. He couldn't quite remember how they were related. Something like their father's being brothers - or was it Ben's father and his mother? It didn't really matter. Benny was his cousin because that's what he was told - and Benny always played over his house and sometimes shared his bed, and their mummy's would often hang out together. They were family. He looked over his shoulder at the two intruders, and scrunched his nose. "No. Boys only!" Girl's had germs - everyone knew that.

 

[Professor Benjamin Kaster II]

It seemed that Benjamin would not be reading today. Or even looking at the pictures in his book. He looked up when he heard his name - seeing his cousin, Rafaelle, climbing into the top of the gym. He removed his book from his lap and placed it beside him, before hugging Rafaelle tightly. He had not seen his cousin for some time - well, it felt like a long time. Benjamin had gone on tour with their fathers, while Rafaelle had remained with his mother, and Benjamin's own mother and siblings. Benjamin had wished to remain here, with his aunt and mother and siblings, while Rafaelle would have rather been off with their fathers. It was ironic, to the young boy, that they lived each other's desires. "Hello Rafaelle," he muttered, not from distain, but mostly because he was by no means as loud of his cousin. Benjamin was, however, far more responsible than Rafaelle, and far more understanding of others emotions. So when Rafaelle declared to the two girls that obviously had trouble with English (as he did himself) that they were not allowed, his book was in his hand and slapped against Rafaelle's arm as quickly as his small arms could manage.
"Sorry," he said, not aiming this at his cousin, instead focusing his blue eyes on the girls. One had a nice hair cut, while the other's dark brown hair reminded him of his uncle. Benjamin also liked what they were wearing. His mother and aunt were both fashion-orientated in their own right, making sure that they and their children had the best clothes that suited them and looked wonderful, while his father was similar - wanting Benjamin to always look his best. His own mother would die if he looked shabby at any point of his life. The young boy had always liked dresses, though would never willingly wear one because he was a boy, and boys wore pants, not dresses. He didn't want to turn into a girl or anything.
"Come." He waved the girl's in, just in case they didn't understand him. Three out of four of them obviously had some problems with the English language, but he doubted there was any other they could pick. One girl was Asian, and he assumed that she would speak something Asian that he wouldn't understand, while his own cousin only knew English and maybe a few speckles of Bulgarian from himself - maybe some French from his mother, but Ben didn't know French. The other girl was a little harder to decide, being Caucasian, but she was probably European or something. Maybe from the North? Like his mother?
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[Clara Hayes]

Clara looked at the other girl who had sort of come up beside her. She had sort of come out of no where and whilst that had scared Clara, she wasn't about to be rude to the poor girl. Instead, she smiled slightly and moved aside. As it turned out, they were both only just learning English, though this girl seemed to have had a better grasp on it then Clara did, not that it was at all surprising, she had only started learning it recently when she came to live with her Daddy. Clara really loved her Daddy and all her heaps of siblings. She loved them all very much, but more so Leander and Ruben, seeing as she knew them from before they had to leave their home. Clara was sad about that, yes, but she knew that she would get over it. As she looked at the girl, Clara pointed to herself. "Clara." She was smart enough to realise that both she and this shadow girl shared the fact that they were not English speakers. Whilst Clara didn't know what language the girl belonged too, she knew that her Mummy was from the land of pasta, or that is what CamDaddy had told her. She thought it sounded silly, but it was pretty cool that she was born in pasta-land.

When Clara looked up again, she was told something. 'Boy's only'. That was sad, because Clara really wanted to be their friend and also climb this metal jungle gym thingy. She was about to move back down when she heard someone get slapped and when she looked up again, the other boy, who seemed to know the meanie one, had slapped him in the arm. Clara smiled at this and felt a little triumphant. After all, had she not just won that fight, albeit, slightly differently then was traditional. Either way, Clara was pretty damn happy that they boy got slapped, he was a bully anyway. She nodded at the second boy when he motioned for them to enter. Clara grinned widely and positioned her body at a more appropriate angle to allow her to work this climb. Clara may have been a girl, but she knew how to climb. There were wonderful trees in the backyard, not to mention her Daddy could turn into a pony! She wondered if he would let her on his back to ride him? That would be fun, Clara always wanted a pony! Eh, thanks." Clara moved into the corner of the jungle gym and reached over the side in case the other girl would need help.
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[Rin Tsukino]

Rin turned her attention slightly to the girl who had started climbing first. She must have surprised her after all since she practically just came out of nowhere, but she liked the brown-haired girl. Rin thought she looked nice. Especially since she moved and smiled at her. She always appreciated friendly people, they reminded her of her Ryuuji-niisan which she had grown to like. Well, at first she was very reserved, but Ryuuji-niisan was just like her and he was really kind and welcoming and playful and a very good big brother. She liked Harumi-neesan too and the bear hugs she would frequently get from the older. She was pulled out of her thoughts when the other girl spoke and she nodded her head to signal that she understood. "Rin." she spoke as clearly as she could as she wondered where Clara-san was from. She decided on calling the girl Clara-san as her being a Japanese, she was quite used to adding honorifics and to them, not adding honorifics was either a sign of disrespect or they were really, really, really close friends.

Suddenly another boy had climbed behind them and just went past them in a hurry to the point that Rin lost her balance on one foot and almost lost her hold on the bar too. That boy was a meanie cause she almost fell and now she had to regain her balance and her dress was getting dirty too. She had to wonder why she even bothered to climb when her balance was so terrible and she wasn't even the least bit athletic. But she was already near the top and climbing down would be even more dangerous for her if no one was there to catch her down below. But it seemed that Meanie-san was intent on not letting them get to the top. "Why?" the Japanese whined and pouted. Why were they not allowed there? They climbed it just like any other kid. Thankfully though the other kid who was there first welcomed them in. "Thank you," the Asian muttered with a small smile as she struggled to climb the jungle gym with much difficulty, her feet slipping once in a while. But she did manage after a few failed attempts to get to the top. She was relieved that she was finally there though there was one problem left. How was she going down later on?

 

[Rama Mowry]

Rama was happy to be out. She had just turned five on the first of September. She loved being five! Her dad let her go to the park now. Before, she always played with her toys at home or at her Derek samchon's house. Her daddy was a busy man. He always left for long periods of time, but Rama was never by herself. Samchon always took good care of her, and she lived playing with Helen unnie. She was going to go to school next year, so Rama would not be able to play with her anymore. This made Rama sad, but she was a big girl now. She was not supposed to cry when she did not get what she wanted.

Daddy had come to the park with her. Rama ran to the jungle gym while he sat down on a bench. There were already kids playing. Well, it looked like they were playing. She went up to the kids and she smiled brightly! "I wanna play with you guys!" she announced happily. Rama's first language was English, but at home her father only spoke Korean to her. Most of her family spoke in Korean so that she could learn the language. It was a bit difficult, but she had grown up with two languages around her.