soraspace | A case of the babysitting blues.

[When she hears someone coming in the door, Sophie thumps right over to meet them. After all, it's her duty to protect the house from bad guys--Norma said so.

She isn't particularly impressed by the blue-haired guy walking in right now, but who knows? Maybe he'll do something interesting later. In the meantime, she has to make sure it's okay for him to come in.]

Who are you?

[Yes, Sophie, keep watching. Hubert might do a trick.]

My name is Hubert. I've been charged with looking after you while your caretakers are away.

[She just kind of looks at him.]

You're blue.

[Be proud, Hubert. She can't identify too many colours at this point in her life, but that is apparently one of them!]

[That...was not exactly how he'd expected to be greeted.]

...I do have blue hair, yes.

[And blue clothes, obviously. But the hair thing is what occurs to him because another Lucetian had just commented on it last week.]

[She points at his clothes.]

You're all blue.

[...Hey, she feels a nickname coming on!]

...more or less, I suppose.

[Kids. He sighs.]

Do you know if Fenimore has left any sort of itinerary for me to follow?

[Hubert, why are you using such big words around a toddler -- ]

What?

[Dude, you are making no sense.]

[Is he, now? Guess he'd better explain!]

Is there a specific set of activities or tasks we are supposed to be doing at certain times, or is this more unstructured?

[oh my god stop it oswell]

[Sophie looks at him for a long moment...

...then turns around and walks off.

Wow, you sure got boring fast, bro.]

[It doesn't occur to Hubert that Sophie's gotten bored with him. After all, he's The Most Interesting Man In the World! He doesn't usually drink beer, but when he does, he prefers rice omelettes...wait this reference got fucked up, let's rewind --

It doesn't occur to Hubert that Sophie's gotten bored. Being the eagle-eyed observer that he is, he assumes that she's toddling off to go find what he's requested. Don't mind him following after you to see for himself.]

[Don't mind Sophie completely ignoring you in favour of going over to the toy chest in the living room, opening it, and retrieving her peepit chick plushie. She then closes the lid to the box, and uses both hands to make the plushie hop around while making chirping noises to herself.

Interpret this, Hubert.]

[

Oh.

Well then.

Thinking on it further, Hubert realizes that perhaps he shouldn't have expected a young child to be overly attentive to something like that. Most children -- most people, really -- aren't as routine-happy as he is. He hadn't been able to ask Fenimore for more details, either: she'd seemed quite rushed when she made the call to ask him to look after Sophie. Hubert walks into the kitchen and takes a look around, searching for some clue as to what he might need to do besides be an adult presence. If all else fails, he supposes he could contact Pao-Lin and ask about her babysitting experiences.]

[Sorry, bro. You're going to find a note that instructs you to give Sophie a snack and a nap at some point during the afternoon, but that's about it. For everything else, you're on your own.

Meanwhile, Sophie is just going to take her peepit chick and climb up onto the couch so she can have it hop along the back for a while. What do, Hubert.]

[Hey, it's better than nothing. The snack should be simple enough, as he sees some fruit lying on the counter nearby. Hubert doesn't look forward to trying to get Sophie to take a nap, though. But he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

Maybe it won't be so bad, he surmises as he returns to the living room. Just because asking Pao-Lin is an option doesn't mean it's necessarily an option that he'd want to immediately take. Surely he could figure this out on his own. He stands by the couch and just gazes at Sophie playing, looking incredibly awkward and very much out of place in the house.

...how does he watched kid.]

Be careful, now. You shouldn't jump around on there.

[Hubert, you are not endearing yourself.

Sophie stops and looks over her shoulder just long enough to say:] Fen lets me.

[Then she goes back to playing.

This may or may not be true. Believe the small child Y/N?]

Edited 2013-04-12 15:05 (UTC)

Well, Fenimore [no way is he using a nickname for her] isn't here at the moment, so you'll have to listen to me instead. If you must play [why is he making it sound like playing is something a child shouldn't be doing?!], do it on the floor.

[This is legit, right? Hubert remembers his parents scolding Asbel for jumping around on the furniture when they were kids.]

[Once again, for a very long moment, Sophie stares at Hubert. Are you serious, dude.

When it looks as though he is...she hops down.

She doesn't look happy about it, though. ~~And ten to one the moment he turns his back she'll be back up there again. FEN SAYS IT'S OKAY.~~]

[Who cares if kids are unhappy as long as they're listening to him? Satisifed, Hubert sits down in an armchair and flips open his book to read. He's got Sophie well within his sights regardless, so if she tries to climb up again he'll definitely notice.]

[Sophie is well aware that she's being watched, and as she plays, she keeps a rather sulky eye on Hubert to see if his attention lapses.

After a while, she stands up with her toy and leaves the room. Follow?]

[You bet he's following, though he's not exactly happy about it since he was just reaching an interesting part in this novel he's reading. But he doesn't want to be held liable for any shenanigans that ensue as a direct result of him not doing his job, so when he spots Sophie heading off somewhere, Hubert marks his place with a bookmark and quietly goes to see what she's up to.]

[When Sophie reaches the door of the bathroom, she turns around and stares at Hubert. You're not going to follow her into here, are you, bro?]

[........AWKWARD.

Hubert tries his best to pretend it isn't, though. As soon as Sophie turns around and he realizes what she intends to do, he merely sighs and turns to head back into the living room to wait for her.]

[Good. Maybe he's not so annoying after all.

Sophie then proceeds to spend a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom, because what is being efficient when you're four.]

[Excuse you, Hubert was totally efficient when he was your age. Efficient at being a scaredy-cat, anyway.

Hubert gets so caught up in his reading that he almost doesn't notice Sophie taking her time. Once it occurs to him that she's been gone for a bit, however, he gets up to check on her. He hesitates once he reaches the door of the bathroom, because awkward and again awkward, but soon enough he clears his throat and knocks lightly.]

Is everything all right?

[Please oh please please please for the love of everything Suncreen Rangers let the answer be "yes" because he really does not want to deal with a toddler's potential bathroom messes -- ]

Yeah.

[Because like hell is Sophie going to say anything else. She's a big girl and don't need no man!

Accept this at face value?]

Are you sure? You've spent quite a bit of time in there.

[Again, he refuses to be held liable for neglect. :|]

Yeah.

[Now she sounds a little annoyed. What, don't you trust her?]

[His view of children is mainly colored by his recollections of bitty Asbel. You can't really blame him for being suspicious.

But okay, there's really nothing else he can do short of breaking down the door to check for himself, and noooo way is he doing that unless it's patently clear that there's a problem. Hubert sighs and gets back to the living room to continue his reading.]

[It'll be a good while before Sophie emerges from the bathroom (Hubert doesn't want to know how much toilet paper she used...). When she does, however, she doesn't return to the living room, but instead toddles her way into the kitchen.

Maybe Gee Girl forgot and left some cookies out.]

[Well, that took long enough. But at least he didn't have to come in to do bathroom control.

Hubert notices Sophie wandering into the kitchen out of the corner of his eye, and closes his book so he can get up and check on her. Perhaps she's hungry; in that case she may require help in food preparation. At the very least, she'll need some minor supervision.]

[The minute Sophie notices Hubert, she stops what she's doing and stares at him. What do you want, bro? :|]

Are you hungry?

[She takes a minute to think about her answer.]

Yeah.

[Is she actually capable of saying anything else...?]

Very well, then. I'll get you some fruit for your snack. What would you like?

[...But she wanted cookies. :|

Well, maybe he'll give her some after. She should save room.]

Peaches.

[Just like Ques!]

[You are not allowed something as unhealthy as cookies. Only fruit ~~that looks like Cheria's butt~~.

Hubert doesn't immediately see the peaches on the counter, so he checks the fridge instead. Ah, there they are -- tucked in one of the plastic drawers. He retrieves one and closes the fridge door, then begins looking around for a knife and cutting board. Not in this drawer...not in this cabinet...hmm...]

[Oh, did you want help? Because WELP. Sophie is just going to take her peepit chick, plunk down on the floor in the middle of the kitchen, and start playing with it. You didn't want to walk without having to worry about stepping on a small child, did you?]

[Not there...and not there either...oh, there's the knives, safely tucked away from where toddler hands might grope for them. Hubert leaves that particular cabinet door open as he goes to find where the cutting boards are -- and nearly trips over Sophie in the process. He frowns down at her.]

Please sit down at the table. I'll have your snack ready soon.

[Come on, he said "please." :T]

[Yeah, but you frowned at her, which is -10 points and earns you....]

Why?

[Have fun with that, Hubert.]

I don't wish to trip over you.

[Crouching down now to peek under the sink now. He finds a wooden cutting board and sets it on the counter, then takes a knife and begins to carve up the peach into kid-friendly slices.]

[This might seem logical to someone older, but to Sophie? Nah.]

But I'm not done yet.

[Had anyone else asked her to move, she almost certainly would have, but Hubert, you've put her back up. Unless she gets another direct order, she's going to be stubborn.]

You can finish whatever you're doing at the table. Please sit down.

[Sophie may be young, but like most kids, she has a good instinct for how far she can push things. She's not happy about it, but--she gets up from the floor, goes over to the table, climbs into a chair, and sits down.

:|]

[Good girl. So-Cool is rewarded with Hubert coming over with a plate of peach slices (more like cubes, really) barely a minute later, along with a fork so she can eat without getting her hands all messy. He sits down at the table across from her and opens his book again to continue reading.]

[And peace is finally achieved as Sophie settles down to eat her snack. She even uses the fork! Good job, Sophie.]

A case of the babysitting blues.

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jsyk I've decided that I'm calling this girl "So-Cool" to differentiate her from Graces!Sophie

Sophie approves of this nickname!

as well she should; you don't meet a nickname like that every dynasty

Hubert is going to love his nickname in return, I guarantee.

As much as Barnaby loved his nickname from Kotetsu, I'm sure.

Oh, definitely.

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