seikilos: (Default)
[personal profile] seikilos
Title: The Babysitters Club: Dhaos' First Day
Fandoms: [community profile] luceti, Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Legendia
Genre: Fluff
Rating: G
Words: 2476
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above media.
Summary: Being the first day of babysitting of one Demon King Dhaos, former Prince of Elusion.
Author's Notes: I had a lot of fun with this one, as is no doubt extremely obvious. XD Dhaos was certainly one of the more entertaining people on Fenimore's babysitting list, given his history, so I just plain couldn't resist writing what his first day might have gone like.

I've no idea whether I'll turn this into a series--this is quite old and though I have a few other ideas I've not written anything similar since--but I hope I'll get to write at least one or two more. After all, Grune has a lot of...interesting friends she could corrall into babysitting....

Thanks to Yosie for typing this for me. ♥

Somehow, Dhaos reflected as he waited for House 34’s front door to open, Grune could persuade him to do virtually anything. It was fortunate that she was unaware of her mysterious power over him; as it was, she involved him in all manner of strange and awkward activities.

“Hi, Dhaos. Come on in. Sophie’s just inside,” Fenimore greeted him with not quite a lack of amusement.

Case in point.

He still was not quite certain how Grune had gotten him to agree to babysit a three-year-old girl, but it had taken her very little time indeed. He had wanted to protest and explain just how unsuitable he was for the job—but he also did not wish to lose her regard. In the end, it had been simpler to add his name to what was, knowing Grune, an extremely eclectic list. He could only hope Fenimore was better at assessing the appropriateness of volunteers than Grune was (though the fact that she had let him in did not promise much).

With those thoughts in mind, Dhaos entered House 34 to meet his charge.

Sophie was a small girl with short, slightly ruffled white hair and bright blue eyes. She had been quietly stacking a set of colourful wooden blocks on the living room floor, but when he and Fenimore had entered, she had looked up, then stood.

“This is Sophie,” Fenimore introduced rather needlessly. “Sophie, this is Dhaos. He’s one of Grune’s friends. He’ll be looking after you this afternoon, all right?”

Sophie’s only response was to nod. She walked up to him and looked up. Then she looked up farther. Then she looked up even farther, arching her back and tilting her head as far back as it could go. Then she lost her balance and plopped back onto her bottom.

Dhaos braced himself for tears, but Sophie only seemed a bit surprised. She stood herself back up and padded her way over to her guardian.

“Bye, Fen,” she said and hugged the girl around her legs.

“Bye, Sophie.” Fenimore ruffled her hair a bit awkwardly, then glanced back at Dhaos. “Everyone else is out, but you can probably catch at least one of us over the journals if something comes up. She’s already had her nap, but you’ll want to fix her a snack in a while. Nothing much, though—I’ll be making supper when I get back.”

Dhaos nodded once. “Very well.”

“Great. If you don’t have any questions, I’m off.” Fenimore headed over to slip on her shoes and a coat. Once again, she couldn’t quite conceal her amusement. “Have fun, you two.”

Sophie waved. Dhaos just watched the door close behind her.

Why did Grune always do these things to him?

Once he and Sophie were alone, the two of them looked at each other for a long, silent minute, she steadily, he uncomfortably. Then Sophie returned to her blocks. For lack of anything better to do, Dhaos knelt down and watched her.

He had been no stranger to children, once—in that distant time when he had ruled Elusion, he had often taken a few minutes from his always busy day to speak with the children of the castle. Occasionally, he would even join in one of their games for a brief time. But he had never been the sole guardian of a child, and it had been a very long time since he had been in the presence of children at all.

“That block.”

Dhaos pulled himself back to the present and followed where Sophie was pointing with a plump finger. There were two blocks within his reach.

“. . . Which one?”

“That one.” She pointed again.

Dhaos picked up the one she had indicated. He felt some attempt at being educational was required of him in his position of responsible adult. “The square one?”

She nodded, beginning to look a bit impatient. Dhaos gave her the block.

“Sanks.” A pause for her to stack it. “That block.”

This occupied a few more minutes. After a while, Dhaos began building his own structure. He didn’t get particular far, however, as Sophie abruptly got to her feet and looked at him expectantly.

Dhaos stood up.

Sophie walked over to him, stretched a hand towards him—then seemed to decide he was too tall for handholding and fisted her fingers in his cloak instead. She tugged and he followed.

First, she led him across the main living area to a small, darkened room.

“Norma’s room,” she told him and waited. It took him a moment to understand what she was expecting of him, but once he did, he winced inwardly. Of course a child so young would have no awareness of the impropriety of looking into a woman’s bedroom without permission. How could he explain it in terms she could understand?

. . . It was impossible, wasn’t it?

He glanced as quickly inside as he dared, finding it disorganized and surprisingly filled with books.

“. . . Very nice.”

Sophie nodded, apparently satisfied, and on they went to the next.

“Fen’s room.”

Bracing himself, ignoring the cacophony of disapproval and shock in his head, Dhaos looked. It was, if he were forced to guess, a very ordinary room for a young woman and he certainly was not speaking from experience.

“. . . Very nice.”

The tour continued, with “bafroom,” “kitchen,” “Gee Girl’s room,” “Wally’s room,” and “my room” all being required stops. His shortest glimpse, by far, had been in Grune’s room; his lone two experiences with that particular location had not been pleasant and he felt he was already too well acquainted with it as it was.

Seemingly content that her caretaker was now sufficiently impressed with her home, Sophie toddled into her bedroom. There, from a child-sized desk, she retrieved paper and crayons, sat, and began to draw. Dhaos hesitated, then followed her inside.

Sophie drew for some time—although “drew” was an extremely generous term for the abilities of a three-year-old girl. She ignored him entirely, which was to his pleasure. After all, now he didn’t need to think of what to do with her.

It wasn’t long before she sat back in her tiny chair in plain satisfaction. She picked up her picture and held it out. As far as he could discern, it was a picture of scribbles in six different shades.

He fell back on what he now knew to be a safe reply:

“Very nice.”

This earned him a smile and she held it out farther. “For you.”

He blinked. What in the world had he done to earn her affections so quickly?

“. . . Thank you.”

“Welcome.”

She then pulled out another piece of paper, settled another crayon in her fist, and announced, “This is for Gee Girl.” And off she went again.

After a time, Dhaos located a chair, moved from it a box that rattled with what sounded like a hundred tiny parts, and sat. Sophie seemed to require only his occasional approval, which left him to idly trace the lines of his picture with his gaze and think of nothing in particular.

In the middle of what was apparently to be Norma’s picture, Sophie announced, “I’m hungry.”

Dhaos stood and covered a yawn. So far, babysitting was turning out to be a far more restful job than he had anticipated. “Very well. Come with me.”

He began to walk to the kitchen, but paused when he felt a tug on his cloak. He looked down. Sophie looked back up.

He couldn’t help the upward turn of his lips at the sight. Sophie was a remarkably endearing little girl.

He started walking again, this time at a pace better suited to a small child.

Once in the kitchen, Sophie pointed at a jar on the counter and asked hopefully, “Cookie?”

. . . He knew little about caring for children, but he at least knew this much. “Not right now. You will spoil your appetite.”

She gave a surprisingly large sigh. “’Kay.”

After observing the contents of the fridge (which was, despite Grune’s constant efforts to feed him, much better stocked than his own), he took out an apple, washed and cored it, then cut it into tiny pieces. Finally, he dropped the snack into a bowl and set it in front of Sophie.

“Sanks.”

A few minutes later: “Cookie?”

He checked the bowl and was entirely unsurprised to find it more than half full.

“Once you have eaten all of your apple,” he said firmly.

Another sigh. “’Kay.”

To her credit, Sophie did not continue to pester him; the next time she made her request was once she had completed her snack. Only then did he offer the reward, which turned out to be chocolate chip.

“Gee Girl’s cookies are good,” Sophie told him and offered, “You can have one, too.”

About to refuse, Dhaos stopped. Why was everyone in this house so insistent on feeding him?

He scanned the cookies on top of the pile, selected the smallest one, and ate it under the approving eye of Sophie. He supposed one cookie could hardly hurt if it made Sophie happy. . . . This was an unfortunately familiar line of thought.

Once Sophie had finished eating and he had tidied up both her and the kitchen, Dhaos was at something of a loss. It would not be long before Fenimore and the others returned. What sort of activity ought he suggest to occupy Sophie for the time remaining?

As it turned out, Sophie knew her own mind perfectly well. She walked over to him, lifted her arms, and said, “Pick me up, Dhaos.” A beat. “Please?”

Somewhat taken aback—had anyone made such a request of him before? —he was slow to obey. But he at least did so before she had the opportunity to repeat her request, gingerly settling her tiny body against his.

“Way up high,” she declared. Two arms latched around his neck. “Let’s go on a ride.”

“. . . Very well.”

He set off at a slow walk, but was soon urged with calls of “Faster, faster!” until he was striding about the living room, circling the furniture and leaning down just enough to make Sophie squeak with laughter, but of course never enough to put her in any danger.

When she called out, “Higher!” he at first wasn’t certain what she meant—not until she let go of his neck to thump at his shoulders.

He eyed the ceiling. . . . As long as he stooped a little and did not attempt to go through any doors, she would be safe from bumping her head.

With perfect care, he lifted Sophie and set her on his shoulders.

“Ohh!” She put her hands on either side of his head, accidentally shoving his headband into his eyes in the process. He spared a hand to push it back into place.

He then was surprised to feel Sophie trying to turn his head.

“That way.”

Reduced to the status of horsie, Demon King Dhaos could only obey.

Sophie’s giggles could move anyone to a smile, however, and Dhaos was no exception. She steered him this way and that and when she deliberately aimed him at furniture or the wall, he even gave a light chuckle. It was remarkable how unburdened he felt—

Right until he heard the front door of the house unlock and heard Norma call out, “Yoohoo! We’re home!”

He came at once to a complete halt, but his attempt to remove Sophie from his shoulders was sabotaged by her reluctance to stop being the tallest person in the room. She clung to him with hands and legs and before he could discover a safe way to pry her off, three of House 34’s residents walked into the room—Norma, Fenimore, and . . . Grune. Of course.

“Lookit me!” Sophie crowed and, just to make his humiliation complete, Norma burst out laughing and Grune giggled. Only Fenimore seemed capable of restraining herself—though that restraint did not extend itself, it seemed, to keeping a neutral expression.

“I’m taller’n Gee Girl!” Sophie declared as Dhaos made the entirely futile efforts to both lift her off and not blush.

“Yes, you are,” Grune agreed, beaming up at her. Then her gaze dropped to his and something in it softened a little.

The cause of that change was destined to remain a mystery, as Dhaos then discovered that, in her determination to remain where she was, Sophie had fastened her hand in his hair. He made a noise of discomfort.

Seeing his problem, Fenimore at last took responsibility. “All right, Sophie, let go of Dhaos so he can go. He’s got other things to do today.”

“No, wait, G-Girl, go get your picture-taker-thingy,” Norma contradicted, grinning hugely. “Little D, you have no idea how adorable you two look right now.”

“Li’l Dee?” Sophie repeated and Dhaos grimaced.

“Yeah, Little D!” Norma nodded. “It’s because he’s so tiny.”

“But he’s huge.” He felt Sophie pat his head.

“It’s a joke, Fifi,” Norma explained. “I call him Little D because he’s really, really not.”

This was apparently the funniest thing Sophie had heard in her brief life, because she went off into a fit of the giggles, her tiny legs kicking against his body. Then, as he waited for her laughter (and Norma’s) to be done, a bright flash of light caught his attention. . . . Yes, there was Grune with her camera, smiling with happy satisfaction.

Truly, his good fortune knew no bounds.

“Okay, Sophie, come on down,” Fenimore said and held out her hands; Dhaos was only too glad to take advantage of the little girl’s distraction to pass her to her guardian. “Thanks again for looking after her. It—looks like she had a good time,” she added with a voice that wavered in a way he did not like.

“Goodbye, Dhaos!” Grune told him with an even larger smile than before.

“Bye, Little D!” Norma wore a wicked expression. “I’ll get G-Girl to bring over a copy of the picture next time she visits.”

And finally, from her position on Fenimore’s hip, Sophie waved. “Bye, Li’l D!”

Her laughter followed him out the door. While there were certainly worse sounds to accompany his departure . . . he wished from the bottom of his heart that there had not been quite so many witnesses to his babysitting success.

Date: 2012-08-06 02:34 am (UTC)
From: [personal profile] mise_en_scene
Oh gosh, I love the image of Sophie leading Dhaos around (or riding on him) and just Sophie is all sorts of adorable in her stoic way. Absolutely wonderful. ♥

And thank you Yosie for typing this up!

Date: 2012-08-06 04:23 pm (UTC)
lostinmyway: (Giggle!)
From: [personal profile] lostinmyway
Hee, thank you so much! I have to say, the mental images brought a lot of smiles while I was writing this, what with Dhaos being nearly four feet taller than her at that point in her life. XD

I'll make sure to pass on your thanks! ♥

Date: 2012-08-06 10:48 am (UTC)
ryttu3k: (zelda: oot link zelda yay explosions)
From: [personal profile] ryttu3k
Oh god the mental images. It's. It's beautiful :D

Date: 2012-08-06 04:23 pm (UTC)
lostinmyway: (Sparkle sparkle!)
From: [personal profile] lostinmyway
8D Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed them as much as I did. ♥

Date: 2012-09-09 02:47 pm (UTC)
northeasternwind: (LMAO)
From: [personal profile] northeasternwind
WHOA WHOA WHOA WAIT

WAIT I THOUGHT I'D COMMENTED ON THIS

DUDE

Great, now I have to go through your whole journal and check the comments again. LOLOLOL.

Anyway LOL YES poor Dhaos, he is such a sucker for Grune and her smile and her HEY DHAOS I HAVE A GREAT IDEA 8DD And Fenimore stoppit. Seriously you are not making anything better. At all.

LOOOL SOPHIIIIIIIIIE. Yesh, Dhaos is way too tall for everyone's good. Also lol at Sophie falling over and just going I AIN'T EVEN MAD. And once again Fenimore stoppit.

Grats, Sophie, you are one of very few people who can have a staring contest with Dhaos and win in the Deadpan category. XD

Also D'AAAAAW Sophie showing him everyone's rooms and giving him a present is so cute 8D And Dhaos realizing that Sophie drives his thoughts in much the same direction Grune does. LOLOLOL.

The ending.

The ending.

Poor, poor Dhaos. LOLOLOLOLOL.

SOPHIE THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT

YOU TOO GRUNE

8|

Date: 2012-09-09 03:40 pm (UTC)
vyctori: (Grune.)
From: [personal profile] vyctori
Dude, no you don't. As much as I love getting your comments--they're always so entertaining--you're under no obligation to give me them. ♥

Dhaos is the softest Demon King ever. :Db And Fenimore is getting a lot of entertainment out of this--why would she stop?

Yesh, Dhaos is way too tall for everyone's good.

Especially when you're three feet tall. Having a dude over twice your height is ridiculous.

Sophie is hardcore. :|

True story: I was once in a kindergarten class for five minutes when they started giving me presents. I hadn't even done anything yet. XD

DHAOS DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' DIGNITY, AMIRITE?

:D

Date: 2012-09-10 08:44 pm (UTC)
northeasternwind: (Yggdrasill)
From: [personal profile] northeasternwind
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OBLIGATIONS

I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELS OKAY

And ahaha yeah, Dhaos you can have dignity or you can have decent friends, you can't have both. LOLOLOL. You're not giving Fenimore a lot of reason to stop, no XD

I kinda love playing someone as tall as Dhaos-- partially because I can automatically assume that he's probably taller than my threadmate, and partially because it makes everything funnier. LOL. Especially with Sophiiiiie.

Vyc clearly exudes an aura of awesome that they wished to appreciate. LOLOLOL.

NOPE

NOT TODAY XD

Date: 2012-09-12 03:07 am (UTC)
lostinmyway: (Boobsquish!)
From: [personal profile] lostinmyway
THIS IS VERY OKAY. :Db

And dude, you've already had dignity. Go with friends.

And I love playing someone as tall as Grune--she almost always looks down at her female friends and in the eyes of her male friends. Dhaos is one of the few notable exceptions. XD

Or they just loved drawing for people. XD;;

OR ANYTIME GRUNE IS INVOLVED EVER.

Date: 2012-09-17 07:28 pm (UTC)
cinnamonical: (Misc - cupcakes)
From: [personal profile] cinnamonical
First of all, I think I'm going to have to file "Sophie using Dhaos as her personal horsie" as a potential fanart idea, because TOO CUTE. (Really, this entire fic can be summed up as TOO CUTE.)

Secondly, I would love to see some sort of fic eventually that has older Sophie interacting with Dhaos. :D;; How many people can claim they had a demon king as a babysitter?

Date: 2012-09-18 02:53 pm (UTC)
lostinmyway: (Oh my isn't this lovely?)
From: [personal profile] lostinmyway
/ENABLES THE HELL OUT OF THIS

Actually, it's been an idea in the back of my head for a while to write a fic where teenaged!Sophie reflects on her childhood. I'm going to need a lot of time to turn it over and tease out all the details, so I won't be writing it any time soon, but.

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