fandomhigh | Teamwork 101 -- Period 1 [Monday]

The small children were still about today and while Genesis had not be so blessed as to get any children of his own (oh thank Ifrit), he’d approached the idea of class with dread. No doubt there would be at least some children in class, no matter how dreadful he thought it would be, which meant--

Either ignore them and deal with their irritating presence when ignoring them didn’t work... or provide distraction.

The Danger Shop was proving useful for that today.

“Yo! Rookies and Rookie Rookies!” There was a term for junior Rookies, yes. This was Reno. He was prepared for any eventuality that Rookiedom might toss his way. “I couldn’t help but notice that there are a few more kids on the island lately than we’re used to, and that brought up an important topic that fits in with that ‘Teamwork’ thing we got goin’ here: Parenting.”

Which Reno knew about because of quite similar weekends in years past. Thank you Fandom.

“Presumably you’ve all figured out by now that children need to be fed and watered and cleaned regularly,” Genesis announced, a hint of a drawl in his voice. “If not, you’re a worse parent than I would be. My condolences, if that is the case.”

Genesis had no illusions about what sort of a parent he’d be. He’d drop the kid on Angeal and never look back.

“Rather than subjecting you all to a lecture,” Genesis continued, “which a number of you likely wouldn’t have the attention span to listen to anyway, we’ve prepared something else for you today.” Well, flicked a few buttons. Toyed with a program. It counted as preparing.

Making a sandwich took more effort.

“Games,” Reno piped in, grinning. Maybe looking a little wistfully around the room. “Whether you got kids or not this weekend, keepin’ ‘em occupied is always gonna be a concern. So, you all got your pick today. Leapfrog? Hopscotch? We got some sidewalk chalk over here, if you want to scribble the he--ck out of the fake sidewalks today, yo. Call it bonding time. And when you’re done, we got juice and cookies.”

Because Reno thought it was funny to pump the children full of sugar, and then send them home with their mommies and daddies. As you do.

“Get to it, kids!”

[Open!]

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"Incoming!"

That would be Reno laughing a bit, as he stooped over to catch the little girl who was headed at him at breakneck speed. He might he a little on the gangly side, but that wouldn't stop him from hoisting her up and resting her on his hip, provided she didn't squirm free or something.

"How you doin', kiddo?"

Nope, he had no idea who she was. But she seemed to know him, and she was... what, four? Not like it was going to hurt anything.

Kendra laughed when he caught her up.

"I'm having fun! I came to visit mommy and we've had fun -- but she won't let me paint my hair like hers because she says I'm too little. You don't think I'm too little, do you?"

"Bah," Reno replied, "I ain't the person to go askin' about that kinda thing, squirt. But you know what? Ask your mom real nice, an' she might get you some of them pretty hairclips with more colors in 'em than even her hair's got, from T&C or somethin', yo."

He gave her a little grin, and then looked at Chloe. Yep. Had to be her.

"They look way better on big kids like you anyhow."

Also, they came out again. Always an important consideration with small borrowed children.

Kendra giggled and hugged him. "Oh, those are pretty and they have lotsa curls like a fairy princess!"

Because she thought fairy princesses were cool. They had powers like her mommy did!

Kendra's older mother would probably be very happy about the fact that her daughter didn't come back with blue stripes in her hair again.

Awwwww, tiny child hugs. Reno's grumpy old heart was going a bit gooey, here.

"Yeah? You know, I don't think I ever saw a fairy princess before," he replied. "Maybe you'll be a first, huh?"

Well, okay. He had seen fairy princesses before. This was Fandom. But it wasn't like he'd ever realized it.

"I can be a Fandom fairy princess," Kendra said happily. "Because Fandom is the most funnest place ever!"

Kendra may be a little partial.

"Hey, it's up there," Reno agreed, laughing a bit. "You get to play with any of the other kids this weekend? Make new friends or somethin'?"

"I got to see K-Mart's kids again, but her son is sad because his girlfriend didn't get to come this year."

Kendra, worse than the squirrels sometimes. "And I met someone named Calyn. But I've been spending a lot of time with Mommy because sometimes Mommies get lonley and you have to be there to make them smile. Daddy says I'm the bestest at making Mommy smile."

Aww, she was such a little gossip! That was totally Reno's kind of kid, right there!

Weetiny recon. Adorable and brutally honest, always.

"I bet you do a good job of that, too," Reno replied, kneeling to set her back down on the floor. Picking her up was easy. Holding her for a bit? Sure, he was cool with that. But Reno was not exactly built for sustained small-child balancing. "It's your job, you know. You do the job, yo."

Chloe wished that the weetiny recon provider would answer her questions directly.

"Cuz I'm a Rookie," she said solemnly as she looked up at him. "Just like Mommy. And I can kick, too."

She seemed a little too proud of that ability.

"Yeah?" For a moment, Reno bit back the temptation to see if he could send the little girl over to kick his co-teacher in the shin. Just because.

But then he decided that he kind of preferred the little kids staying out of immediate danger, and he vetoed it pretty quickly after.

"How high can you kick, Little Rookie?"

"This high!" Kendra said happily as she kicked her leg up high in the air. "I can't fly and kick yet, but I'll learn when I'm bigger."

She meant jump and kick.

"And I also know that boots leave bigger bruises than sneakers."

Because Reno just needed to be told that, right?

Hey, there was a reason that ShinRa-issue uniforms didn't come with running shoes!

"Hey, you got some kinda talent, there," Reno chuckled. "You know, I bet I know what that's good for, in here."

He nodded toward the hopscotch setup.

"I bet you'd be kicka-- er... awesome at hopscotch, Squirt."

"Kickass is one of Aunt Tori's favorite words," Kendra said helpfully. "Daddy says a word that has a lot of ffffs sounds init and he gets frowned at by Mommy when I hear it."

"Heh. I like them words, too," Reno noted. "But they probably ain't too great to go around sayin'. At least, not until you're too old to be a fairy princess anymore, yo. And you don't wanna stop bein' that, right?"

It was important to lay out proper priorities with small children, here.

"I'd rather be a fairy princess and kickass like Mommy than say all of those words that Daddy uses." She stood on tiptoes to whispered. "Aunt Tori says that Mommy is a kickass fairy because she's so tiny."

If by whisper you meant talk in her normal voice.

"Hey, it's the small ones you gotta watch out for, yo."

Wasn't that the truth?

"Like me!"

"Like you," Reno agreed, reaching down to ruffle her hair. "Now go on, get yourself some juice and a cookie, and grab one for your mom, too, okay? I bet she'd like that, yoto."

"Yo-yo? My name's not yo-yo, it's Kendra." She giggled and bounced. "Cookies! Is there chocolate in them?"

"Okay, Kendra," Reno chuckled. "I dunno what's in 'em. I think there's some chocolate, some peanut butter. Maybe a couple Oreos. Plenty to choose from, kiddo. Knock yourself out."

"OREOS!" She hugged Reno's knees and then went running off to claim Oreos.

Teamwork 101 -- Period 1 [Monday]

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