I'm Kinda a Big Dill [open]

Summer was in full swing, the days were longer and the sun seemed much hotter. The calls of birds melted into a symphony with the cicadas that hid in the branches. Constant chatter of children were comparable to applause of an audience in reaction to the symphony.A common outfit as shirts and shorts, much of the older children seemed to prefer it to the warmer clothes that they had worn not a few months ago. The smell if sunscreen seemed to have made its way into the ever present warm smell of the daycare.

It seemed that a small boy had a similar experience. He wore a shirt that said; 'I'm kinda a big dill' with a following picture of a pickle below. His socks were green, paired with dark pants--his father would be pressed to say that he was a well dressed child. Much thanks to his grandmother who supplied him with punny outfits. The blond baby sat in the main play area, chewing contently on a teething toy, the slightest bit of drool slipping past his lips. Blue eyes seemed to watch the other children play--making faces at certain things as if testing out the way his face could move.

Until his teething toy had been taken away by another child--the almost year old child hadn't made much movement. Yet, he reached back out for the toy with a grumpy pout. Shepard couldn't talk, but he would love nothing more to voice his displeasure. What better choice then to begin to whine? Besides, his gums hurt!

"Hey! Get your hands off me!"

With a tight hold on his arm, Chance was dragged through the small wooden gate and into the daycare's main room by the daycare supervisor. Letting go of his arm, she pointed a finger at him with a scolding look on her face while she said something about leaving the area. When she was done, her frown turned upsidedown and she gave him a gentle pat on the head before leaving the room and locking the gate behind her.

Stupid lady, she apparently didnt get the memo. He wasn't supposed to be in this prison, he was supposed to be with the big kids! He'd tried to leave a few times before, but every time she somehow caught him right before he left the building. He'd tried to explain to her that he was actually a student at Beata, but apprently she spoke another language and never took him seriously. He was even wearing a miniature version of the school uniform, but to her, it probably just looked like someone liked to dress their kid up like them. Twinning was winning after all.

Sitting cris cros applesause with his arms crossed, Chance let out a huff, his eyebrows furrowed. If he had to stay here any longer, someone was gonna throw a tantrum. He'd been trapped in the world of little kids for the whole day ever since he'd tried to come visit Leo, and while it wasn't a horrible place, it was degrading to his reputation and was also starting to worry him. Recently, he'd found himself acting more and more like the six year that he was trapped as, and part of the boy started to wonder if he would become an actually little kid someday. 'I just need to find a way to change myself back to my normal age-' he began thinking but something shiny out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

A few feet away sat a plastic bucket and it was filled to the rim with Hot Wheels cars. On top sat a silver sports car and it called his name. Completly sidetracked from the task at hand, Chance pushed himself to his feet and waddled over to the bin. 'Heeellloooo play time,' he thought to himself with a grin on his face as he grabbed the small toy car from the top of the bin. Well, there's no time like the present, and devising a plan to escape could wait till later, right?

No adult with anything better to do would check on a child who is whining in a way that would not spell panic. Soon enough, Shepard stopped. The teething toy was soon off his mind as the glistening hotwheels caught the boy's sight. The blond boy went to stand up with wobbly legs. He didn't make it a single step and opted to lower himself to the floor and roll towards Chance and his bucket of toys. With a impassive look to his face, Shepard reached for the top car-- a Shelby Mustang model. It had red stripes down the black body. It's color interested the boy and he held it in his hands silently.

Shepard met Chance's gaze and held it for a long moment. Suddenly, he shoved the toy into his own mouth, beginning to chew on the object. The underbelly of the car was labeled '3+' and was visible to the older boy. What was to be noted is the fact that Shepard was definitely not three. He was playing death chewing on the toy.

Not that he noticed. Everything was chew-able at his age.

Sitting down and staring at the shiny car, Chance was so mesmerized by its appearance that it took him a moment or two to process what had happened. Laying in front of him was a blonde haired toddler whom he recognized as Leo's son. In the younger boi's mouth was the shiny toy car, now covered in slobber.

"Hey!" he shouted as he stared at Sheppard, his fingers curling into fists. He'd found the car first and so it was his toy to play with!

Not wasting any time to think about what to do, Chance leaned forward to the kid that was lying on his side and shoved his hand in the mouth full of spit. Wincing at the feeling, he shuffled around and grabbed hold on the now slippery little car. Pulling his hand out before Sheppard could bite down, the hazelnut haired boy let go of the wet toy, letting it fall to the ground in front of the two of them. "Ew!" he whined, shaking his hand in the air as spit flew everywhere.

Looking back to Sheppard, he let out a sigh. He was obviously too young to know what to eat and not eat, but still, it was his find and it he couldn't get out of this hell hole, he was going to make the best of it.

"You don't get to play with toy car," he huffed, putting his hands on his hips. Grabbing the Hot Wheel from the ground with his small hands, Chance dropped it in between his legs that were still crossed over each other. "It's mine! I found first," he scolded Sheppard as if he was a parent scolding their child for stealing from a candy store. Candy or not, this little car was his prized possession for the time being and he wasn't going to let some smaller kid take it away from him.

Shepard's eyes narrowed as the boy shoved his hand into his toothless mouth, recoiling back as the toy was taken. He paid no mind to the drool that accumulated past his lips. Rather, he sat up with his feet pushed out to each side. His face returned to its impassive state as he scooted over towards Chance. With little hesitation, the baby climbed into the older boy's lap and sat there. Almost as if he would do that with any older adult. His blond hair swayed as he tilted his head back as far as it could go--resting it on the chest of the boy. The impassive look vanished once again as he gave Chance a toothless grin.

It would be cute if he didn't have the car back in his hand--posed to put it back in his mouth.

Waiting for he kid to start balling, Chance was confused when Shepard made his way onto his lap, practically sitting on the toy car that sat in the middle of his lap covered in drool. "W-wait, wha you doeen?" the older boy muttered, sitting as still as a statue as the blonde kid settled himself in his lap. What in the world... was this just some way for him to get the car back? Well, even so, Chance wasn't going to pity the younger boy at all.

Crossing his arms, Chance looked down to Shepard with a raised brow. "You annoying, you know dat?" he scolded with a pursed lip, not enjoying the time that the other kid was using up from his playtime. All he wanted was to play with the toy car, was that such a horrible thing to ask?

Once again, Shepard began to chew on the car. He shifted back into the boy's lap and ignored what he had to say. Not like it was intended, rather the fact that he could hardly make out words at all. He knew that Shepard referred to him--in a way. As well as know who 'Daddy' is. Though, he couldn't say anything other than scrambled syllables of words. Needless to say, he was a terrible conversationalist. Not that he cared in the slightest.

After a long time chewing the boy tilted his head back again, then held it up for the older boy to take. A thin trail of saliva was connected from the bottom of the car to his lips. It was almost as if he was daring the boy to take the drool coated toy race car from his own drool coated hands. A gift--that comes with a price.

Watching Shepard grab the car and continue to chew on it, Chance let out a sigh. At this point, there was no use in fighting the fact that he wasn't going to get to play with the little toy car and he decided to accept his fate.

So, sitting criss-cross applesauce with the younger child on his lap, the almond haired boy looked around the room from boredom before turning his gaze back down to Shepard and seeing that the blonde haired boy was holding up the slobbery toy car as if he wanted him to take it. Well, he couldn't just deny it...

Grabbing the car from Shepard's hand with as little of his hand touching it as possible, Chance winced as saliva that dripped onto his hand. "Thanks..." he mumbled with an unsure frown. No longer interested in playing with it, he placed the toy on the floor next to him and looked back to Shepard who was still staring at him. "What now?" the child asked, not caring if the younger boy was able to understand him or not.