Nice and peaceful, Nabias offers a great place to start your journey or stock up on supplies before heading out to brave the rest of the wilderness out there. They also have Barakka's largest hospital facility to treat all sorts of injuries you could get out there. (+2 Precision)

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Postby Jaykobell » 05/13/2012 9:57 PM

While Denzil was busy eating — and slowly getting fatter, hah — Richie was keeping an eye on the bags. He figured when Denzil was done, he could hand the little sheep to Eunice. He let the child relax a little and tell his adventure at the shopping mall, and how there were so many people and so many things all in one place.

"And then we went up moving stairs. Richie said they're escalators," Denzil explained as he made his fingers go up an imaginary staircase.

Eunice listened to his tale with curious eyes, but also looking a little disappointed that she'd missed the whole thing. "Sounds great," she replied, although a little passively.

Denzil blinked at her reaction, which wasn't what he'd expected from her. "What's wrong?" he asked, interrupting the story momentarily to make sure she was okay.

"Oh, nothing." She fiddled with her hands and looked away, a little embarrassed. "I guess I wish I could've gone, too." She felt a little selfish for saying that, considering Denzil had had a good time. But for more than a week now, she'd been stuck in bed because of the stitches, and she was barely allowed to get up or move out of bed.

At that, Denzil got up from the bed. "It's okay. I got you something," he told her as he made his way towards Richie, whom was ready and picked the bag that had the sheep in it. Eunice watched curiously at the bag Denzil had picked up, a little taken aback at the mention of him having gotten her something. Once he was back at her bed, Denzil got up on the bed and suddenly, he got timid and started fiddling a little with the bag. "It was Richie's idea, but I picked it for... for you," Denzil explained as he looked away timidly, his eyes going that way and that. He raised the bag and handed it over to Eunice without looking up at her.

Curious, Eunice took the bag gently from Denzil's hands and started opening it up, wondering just what could be inside it. Soon enough, she found the little stuffed sheep inside and picked it out of the bag. "Oh!" The same way Denzil had observed it, Eunice did roughly the same as she looked at the sheep from every possible angle before hugging it. "It's all soft!"

"It's... it's a sheep," Denzil piped up timidly, glancing up at her. "Do you like it?" He had never given her anything. Whenever they had something, it was because she had brought it back from the main house. Since it was brand new, and since he had gotten the chance to choose the stuffed toy himself, he was nervous that maybe she wouldn't like it.

When he asked if she liked it, Eunice grabbed Denzil from the side and forced him into a hug, with the sheep still in her arms. "I love it!" she answered in an excited and high-pitched voice. "Thank you!"

"Denzil got one of his own," Richie said as he got closer to the two kids with Denzil's octopus in hands. "And it can become a hat." And without warning, he dropped the octopus on Eunice's head and pulled the same joke he'd done with Denzil on the girl. The officer got the same reaction as he had with the boy, as the girl giggled and laughed at the octopus sitting on her head.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/13/2012 10:28 PM

Once the two children had their respective stuffed animal, they went on to play with them for the remainder of the night. Because of the octopus having so many arms, it often ended up being the "villain" in the little stories, or sometimes it was the valiant hero from an imaginary enemy. The two came up with a whole bunch of stories the whole night, not getting tired of their toys any time soon. Richie had left them alone, reading his book as the two got to enjoy their new stuffed animals. At some point, he had also mentioned that they could sleep with them as well, if they wanted.

Although it was getting late, Richie hadn't let down his book. Eventually, the excited squeals of the children piped down, and at first, he thought the two children had fallen asleep. He was thinking about putting the book down and going to bed as well, when he suddenly looked up from his book to see Eunice standing in front of him. He jumped a little from seeing the girl there, since he hadn't heard her coming at all.

Eunice jumped a little and hugged her sheep tightly, looking a little apologetic. "S-sorry, I didn't want to scare you," she apologized timidly, her eyes looking that way and this way sheepishly.

"Ah, no, it's okay. I was just really into this book," Richie assured her as he put the book on the shelf and caught a quick glimpse of Denzil fast asleep on the bed, the arms of his octopus going this way and that. "Shouldn't you avoid moving around, though?" he told Eunice as he turned back to her.

The officer was surprised to see the girl's face change into a pouty grimace. "The doctor said I had to stay still because of my stitches... but it's boring. I want to move around." She paused and eventually started fiddling a little with her plush toy. "And... Well..." she started, but she looked away before finishing and didn't seem to want to continue her sentence.

Curious, Richie tilted his head at the girl. "And?" he urged on, although he wouldn't press if she really didn't want to tell him.

"Well... Denzil seems to like you a lot, but we never really got to talk between all the nurses and the doctors, and everything else." She looked away again, a little timid and embarrassed. "I-I'd like to talk with you too."

"O-oh. Is that so?" the officer asked with a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head. He had to admit he'd mostly interacted with Denzil this whole time because he wasn't really sure how to interact with Eunice, being that she was a girl. He had never had an important woman in his life — well, his mom didn't really count, right? — so he didn't really know what girls liked or anything.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/14/2012 12:13 AM

"Denzil is asleep, and I'm not really tired, so..." Eunice looked away this way and that shyly. While she was a little more talkative than Denzil, she was shier than him and didn't really take the initiative with people she didn't know well. "I-I don't know if you'd like to talk?" she offered, fiddling with her sheep, to which she already seemed to be very attached.

"Oh, sure. I don't mind the company," Richie agreed, although he didn't really know what to talk about with the girl. With Denzil, the boy had been exposed to a variety of new things, and with his high curiosity, Richie had had to explain almost everything to him. Eunice seemed to be a little more knowledgable, at least in terms of vocabulary. "You should sit down, though. The doctor will be upset if you stand up for too long," the officer invited as he patted the small space on the chair between him and the armrest.

Eunice did as she was told, although the officer could see she was upset that she had to keep still again. She didn't argue, however, and just squeezed onto the chair, slipping in-between Richie and that armrest. She held onto her sheep the whole time, and sighed once she was comfortably settled into the chair. "I want to leave, but I'm kind of scared of what's going to happen after I can leave the hospital."

"Scared? Why?"

Eunice looked away timidly and scratched the back of her head. "Well... I do hear the nurses talking. Since we're not with the caretakers anymore, we don't have a home anymore. They're wondering where I'm going to go after they release me."

"Ah, I see," Richie answered quietly, but without adding anything more. He was genuinely surprised at Eunice's concerns; he hadn't expected either of the kids to be worried about things like that. However, if the nurses and the doctors had been talking about that problem, it targeted Eunice more than it targeted Denzil. "Well, until they say otherwise, you're under the juridiction of the police station. If you're released before we find a home for you, you'll probably be staying at the station for a little bit."

The girl fell silent for a little while, until she eventually spoke again. "Are we going to get adopted?" She started fiddling with her sheep before hugging it tightly. "I'm... scared about getting adopted again, too," she admitted, looking down nervously. "And I don't want to be separated from Denzil either," she added quickly, looking up at the officer then. "We've been through a lot together... I don't want to be separated from him."
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/15/2012 11:10 PM

At the mention of being adopted, Richie remembered how Denzil had mentioned, somewhat in passing, that unlike him, Eunice had been adopted by the farmers. While Denzil had been sold by his family, Eunice had lost hers. Considering the lost she had had to face, getting adopted by abusive parents wasn't a good experience from her, obviously. Adoption would prove to be a problem as well, considering most parents wanted to adopt babies or very young children. Very few adopted two children at once, let alone some that were old enough to go to school and almost take care of themselves. "I remember Denzil mentioning briefly that you were adopted by those farmers... I also remember him mentioning that your parents—"

"Died," Eunice finished, as she looked up at the officer without really looking distressed or concerned about the topic. "My mom and my dad died years ago, and then I was put up for adoption," Eunice told as she looked back down at her sheep.

"Ah. Were you close to your parents at all?" Richie questioned, admitting that his curiosity was mostly the one at fault for asking. However, he was also curious as to why the girl wasn't a little bit more emotional at the memory or even the mention of her deceased parents.

Eunice fiddled with her sheep for a little bit, seemingly unwilling to answer — or perhaps just trying to word something. "My mom was sort of distant. My dad wasn't home very often. He could be gone for days, and sometimes weeks. I didn't know him very well at all. We weren't close," she eventually replied as she continued to subconsciously play with her stuffed toy, avoiding eye-contact.

"I see. Since you were with your parents for a little while, did they teach you how to shapeshift?" The topic about the two children being shapeshifters had barely come up at all the entire time, mostly because they didn't really act like shapeshifters. Shapeshifters were apparently a lot more nocturnal than humans, and they often used their ability to change forms to accomodate to basically anything and everything. Some of them also had a certain egotistical character, being that shapeshifters were the original species of the current human species — human, shapeshifters, and humanimals. Every — or the vast majority — shapeshifter had a certain pride in being what they were, just in case anyone had missed the black eyes or the symbol by the eye.

Eunice fiddled some more, looking embarrassed. "No..." she answered quietly, and while she seemed like she was about to continue, she hesitated before doing so. "My mom was just a human. My dad was the shapeshifter. Since he wasn't home enough, he never taught me. They never even told me what I am. I learned about it when I was snooping in that woman's library on the farm."
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/15/2012 11:31 PM

"They never told you?" Richie echoed, admittedly surprised that nobody had told this child what she was. Again, most shapeshifters were proud of the heritage, and not mentioning it was basically unheard of. Perhaps Eunice's father was one of those reserved shapeshifters whom didn't make a big deal out of it. "Isn't it inborn, though?"

Eunice shrugged at the last mention, but her response was equally valid for the first comment. "Denzil and I understood we were the same, but that we were different from the caretakers. My mom never told me what my dad was. My mom sometimes ignored me when I asked things, so I usually dropped it when she didn't answer me for a while..." the girl went on, her voice going down as she started trailing off at the end of her tale.

While it satiated his curiosity, Richie had to admit that it hadn't really helped him feel any better. From the sounds of it, Eunice's biological parents sounded like they hadn't been very attentive to her, either. That explained why Eunice wasn't very troubled by losing her parents, and it made it worse to think that she hadn't been adopted by pleasant people after losing her questionable parents. "Do you have any siblings?"

Right away, the girl shook her head. "I was the only one. The closest I've had to a brother is Denzil, but I understand he's not my brother."

"Well, he is sort of like a brother, isn't he?"

At that question, Eunice looked up at the officer with a curious look as she shook her head again. "No. He's my best friend, but he's not my brother. He acts more like a best friend than a brother."

"Siblings can act all sorts of different ways," Richie assured her with a sheepish smile as he put a hand on her head. He was an only child as well, but from the stories he had heard from his colleagues, some siblings could be rather special and eventful. "Besides, siblings don't have to be related by blood. Parents don't have to be, either. That's why people decide to adopt children."

Eunice wiggled a little when Richie put his hand on her head, and she just continued to fiddle with the sheep, petting its little curly wool-hair. There was a pause for a little bit, until Eunice spoke again as she looked up at the officer. "Do you have any children, Richie?"

A little tired, Richie had started to space out, but when there was mention of him having any children, he snapped right out of his daydream. "Ah, m-me?" he asked, pointing at himself, a little dumbfounded.

Curious at his edgy response, Eunice tilted her head. "Yes, you. Do you have any?"
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/15/2012 11:59 PM

When Eunice confirmed that he had really heard her question right, Richie smiled widely, although a little uncomfortably. "Ah, no. I don't have any kids," he said simply, not dwelling too much on the details.

A little surprised, Eunice had seemingly found an interesting topic to talk about, and so, she pressed on, whether the officer wanted her to or not. "Why not? Do you like anyone?" Well, the purpose of them talking really was for the sake of getting to know each other better. At least, that was what Eunice wanted out of it.

When he noticed that the girl was pressing, Richie figured he wouldn't really be able to squeeze out of this conversation without hurting the girl's feelings. "Ah, one question at a time... No, I don't like anyone. I've dated before, but I'm not with anyone."

"Dated?"

"Ah, yes. Dating is when two people agree that they share feelings for each other, either a little or a lot. They want to enjoy each other's company," Richie explained, a little surprised to get that kind of treatment from Eunice. By now, he assumed that she could understand him perfectly, all things considered.

At his explanation, the girl lit up. "Oh! Sort of like what Denzil and I have been doing. We share feelings for each other a little bit, and we enjoy each other's company."

At the mention of the two dating, Richie stared at the girl for a moment, a little baffled. "I-I don't... Ah." How old were they, the two children? Eleven? Twelve? If anything, not more than twelve. Was "dating" even appropriate for their age? "Ah, I would say... that you two just share a really strong relationship," he replied sheepishly, a nervous grin on his face. Someone help him if he had to start explaining to the girl something that went any further than dating.

"Oh," Eunice replied, a little confused in how that was any different. "If you say so." When it came to things that couldn't really be learned from words alone — such as love or dating — Eunice didn't really know anything about them, save for what the words actually meant in terms of dictionary definitions. If Richie said the two were different, then they probably were. "Do you want to be with anyone?"

For a moment, Richie had thought she was done with questioning him. How ironic that the police officer was the one, literally, being questioned. "I guess everyone wants to be with someone, yes." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I don't go out very often because of the job, but it'll work out someday, I guess." He was a lucky one whom didn't have a floating schedule. He went to work on a fixed schedule, and only on the rare occasions did the station call him for extra support. It wasn't about not having time — he was just bushed after work and didn't really see the point in going out.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/16/2012 10:55 PM

When Richie mentioned his job, Eunice saw another point that was worth asking about. "What's your job?" She knew the title was "police officer", and she could faintly remember the word "police", but overall, she had no idea what his job really was. She also understood a "job" was a specific work that a person had to do in order to receive a reward of some shape or form.

For once, Richie was the one feeling the pressure of being at the other end of the interrogation. It's not like Eunice was asking particularly hard questions, he just didn't talk about himself so much very often. Living alone, with barely any contact left with his family — for a specific reason he didn't want to mention — Richie didn't really interact with anyone besides his colleagues at the police station. While he had a good relationship with his boss, he didn't consider a lot of his police partners as "friends".

But that was beyond the conversation at hand. "I'm a police officer. My job is to make sure other people respect the law. If someone breaks it, then I have to punish them for it." That was basically it, if only in layman's terms. If he started explaining everything about his job, he doubted the girl would be able to keep up with so much information all at once. "I sometimes go on general police errands, but sometimes I'm dispatched on crime scenes. That's how I found the two of you on that farm."

Eunice had looked fascinated by Richie's description of his job, but when he mentioned the farm, the girl's expression drooped a little, and she looked back down at her stuffed toy.

While noticing her change in behavior, it took a few seconds for Richie to catch on as to why she was quieter, all of a sudden. "Oh, sorry. Is it the farm?"

At the mention of it again, Eunice eventually just shook her head slowly. "It's okay," she said passively without adding anything, and instead distracting herself with her sheep.

With his curiosity taking over, Richie thought he could maybe get more out of this story about the two children found on the farm. "Do you want to talk about it?" he proposed as he bent down just a little and tilted his head to look at the child better.

A little unnerved at going deeper into the topic, Eunice hunched over nervously. She did her best to avoid eye contact, looking away a little further to the side to make sure Richie couldn't see her face well.

"It's not good for you to keep it bottled up inside," Richie insisted, although he wasn't being forceful about it. "If you don't want to talk about it, though, that's fine."

Eunice was about to answer him as she turned back towards him a little, when she yawned deeply. "Not really..."

"I think you'd rather go to bed," Richie teased, seeing her yawn again right after she'd answered him. "Go back to your bed before they see that you've been moving around." And before they think I might be a sexual predator if she falls asleep next to me, he thought nervously, knowing just how paranoid people were about this nowadays.

Before going back to her bed, Eunice moved around a bit and hugged Richie by his stomach weakly, already starting to fall asleep. "I like you, Richie," she managed to say in-between long yawns before slipping off the chair to make her way, slowly, back to her bed.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/16/2012 11:56 PM

"Have you been moving around a lot?"

Eunice was already unnerved at the fact the doctor was touching her and looking at her, so when he started asking about that, she puffed her cheeks a little and continued to look away. "No," she replied quietly, arms crossed and seemingly unwilling to really talk to the doctor.

It was later in the morning when Eunice's doctor had come by to check on her stitches. To be honest, the doctor was somewhat intimidating to Eunice, and so, the girl was a little unnerved whenever the doctor visited her to check on her. He just wasn't very pleasant to be around and to speak with; he was very flat-toned and always sounded like Eunice was taking too much of his time or that checking on her was a hassle. And so, likewise, Eunice had adopted a similar behavior around the doctor.

Seeing as he wasn't really getting any answer out of the girl, the doctor sighed and turned to Richie for help. "You've been here all this time. Has she been moving around?"

Richie had the uncomfortable impression that the first comment was with respect to how he'd been literally camping in this room for the sake of the two kids. While he'd been staying because he couldn't leave Denzil alone, he was now staying mostly because he'd gotten used to being here.
At the doctor's question, Richie caught a glimpse of the girl, whom looked a little stressed that the doctor had asked the officer instead of pressing her. For all she knew, Richie could tell the doctor she had been moving around all this time, which would obviously upset the doctor. "Well, she's a child. I'm not sure what you're expecting," Richie answered as he shrugged lightly. "I think she's been good about it, though."

The doctor narrowed his eyes slightly, but he seemed to be satisfied enough with Richie's answers not to press him further. He turned back to the girl and straightened up shortly after with a sigh.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's just not healing as quickly as we'd like it to. It's not infected or trying to open up again, but it's not healing as fast as it should. The wound was deep, but we had planned on removing the stitches in the near future. At this rate, she'll need them for another week, maybe two," the doctor explained as he gesticulated and showed numbers with his hands. They usually let patients keep the stitches for about seven to ten days, sometimes more depending on the injury itself and the location. In Eunice's case, they had kept her longer at the hospital because she'd arrived in a rather troubling state.

"So she won't be able to get her release until then?"

"Hm. We'll keep checking on them periodically to make sure they're really healing properly. If her health looks stable enough, we could issue her release." At the mention of the release, however, the doctor narrowed his eyes again. "Speaking of her release, you're the police officer in charge of their case, right? Where are they going to be relocated?"

"At the moment, we're still processing everything necessary for rehoming them. If she gets released before anything is settled, the two will remain at the station as the higher-ups consider it necessary."

While seemingly a little unsatisfied with the answer, the doctor figured that was that, and so, he didn't argue the matter. "I see. We'll inform you as soon as we feel like we can release her," he answered as he straightened out his coat and left the room without adding anything else.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/18/2012 11:28 PM

Eunice pulled her hospital gown down when the doctor was done examining her, giving him a look until he left the room. Denzil did the same, looking at the doctor with a curious look. "Dummy," the boy called out after the doctor had left the room, an insult he obviously didn't want that doctor to hear.

Hearing the doctor's observations, Eunice seemed to get upset. "So what? I'll need to stay in bed even longer?" she whined as she turned to Richie, whom she figured could probably explain to her exactly what was going to happen. It wouldn't keep her from moving around if she wanted to, but this was becoming painful fast.

A little perplexed, Richie scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly. "Well... From what I understand, it might take some time, yeah. They want to make sure your stitches will hold on properly. If they look good enough, they'll let you go."

The girl sighed and was seemingly about to add something, but she refrained from arguing about it. As much as she wanted to leave the hospital, it's not like they had any other place to go. Even if they released her, it wouldn't really do much. At least, she had a bed and food at the hospital, so she couldn't complain. The problem was that doctor; he was just unpleasant. The nurses were nice, but that doctor was always grumpy.

For most of the day, the room was silent. Eunice brooded for a little bit, despite Denzil trying to cheer her up. Nonetheless, the boy kept at it persistently until the girl dropped the tough act. Later in the afternoon, the two started playing with the stuffed toys, the sheep and the octopus fighting against the big bad doctor man.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/18/2012 11:28 PM

Richie glanced up now and again from his book to check on the two; he had to admit he was getting sick of the hospital books fast. They didn't have a huge selection, so he'd almost gone through the titles that seemed interesting to him. But he wanted to go back home tonight; he hadn't gone back in almost two weeks, so he could only be thankful for not having any children, girlfriend, or animals to take care of. Still, there was something he wanted to check on, and he had no choice but to go back home to figure it out.

Later in the evening, when the kids were starting to drift into sleep after eating, Richie figured now would be the best time to leave. They would maybe talk or play a little longer before they would go to bed for the night. "Kids?" He saw the two raising their head when he called out to them. "I have to go back home—"

"You'll come back, right?" Denzil immediately interrupted him, hugging his octopus tightly as he asked.

"— for tonight," Richie finished after the boy was done asking. "I'll come back tomorrow morning. Don't worry," he promised the two as he got up from the chair and went over to them to say good night. He put a hand on both of their heads, since he figured a hug might be too awkward with Eunice in the mix. Imagine if a nurse saw him hugging them? He preferred to listen to his paranoia than to risk it. "Go to bed and listen to the nurses, right? You too, Denzil."

The two children looked up at him and nodded at him in unison. "Bye, Richie," Denzil said quietly, seemingly not worried at the man leaving them together at the hospital. It was only one night, right?

"Come back early," Eunice added to Denzil's response, looking a little more worried than the boy. Being that Richie was their only contact in this new environment, at the moment, she didn't like seeing him leave them at the hospital.

"I will," he promised with a shy smile before making his way out of the room, waving to them before really leaving them alone for the night.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/18/2012 11:43 PM

It's only when he got into his car to drive home that Richie realized how he really was lonely.

He couldn't deny that he had hit the bottom of the barrel not so long ago. Richie had kept his own little secret from everyone he knew for years. A secret that had always made him hate himself from deep down, seeing how pretty much everyone portrayed a different behavior. Richie didn't have any interest in women, and even as a young boy, he'd never felt anything towards girls. He preferred the company of other men, both in terms of friendship and in terms of romantic relationships. For years, he'd kept that secret to himself, that he was attracted towards men, and not towards women. He didn't have anything against women at all, he simply didn't find them sexually attractive. It took him years to come to terms with the fact that he was a homosexual.

And after finally accepting himself as nothing short of normal despite his tastes, he made the fatal mistake of telling his family. Shocked — dare he said, traumatized — by the revelation, they all started cutting ties with him, one by one, until basically no one from his family was left in the picture. They were more unnerved by homosexuality than spiders or death — "abnormal" didn't begin to explain it for them. Having nobody else, Richie started hating himself even more than before, and needless to say, negative thoughts started popping up in his head.

It was his boss whom saved him from the pit. When the officer had announced that he wanted to quit, that he was inadequate and that he couldn't possibly keep serving the populace, his boss had literally smacked him across the face. A harsh thing to do, when you first thought about it, but looking back, Richie couldn't deny that it had done wonders. His boss and some of the officers at the station knew about his orientation, and he was surprised — but relieved — when they told them they literally didn't care. Not everyone knew about it, but he was glad to know that those who did matter to him were true friends, and not just colleagues being polite to him out of protocol. If it hadn't been for them, the officer didn't want to think about what could've happened to him. Maybe he would've started drinking, taking drugs, hurting himself; who knows?

All that to say, he'd never really regained his self-esteem. He had confidence, but he had a terrible image of himself. His boss helped with that problem, slowly but surely, with his most comforting words. Any degrading comment he made was automatically countered by something positive or motivating.

And because of his low self-esteem, Richie never really bothered to go out to find someone to be with. He had a hard time living with himself, so going out with another man in public? His head couldn't wrap itself around the concept at all. As such, aside from his colleagues, he was all alone. No animals, no date, no family, no outside friends. No children.

Even now, he could imagine the two of them asking about everything in the car.
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Postby Jaykobell » 05/19/2012 7:12 PM

Obviously, nothing had changed in his apartment. There wasn't anyone or anything to move or change things around, so his apartment hadn't done much besides collecting dust.

Richie turned on the lights and started rummaging in his apartment for what he'd come back here for. He gathered all his bank receipts and his bank information, along with a notepad and some pens, as he brought everything back to the living room put everything on the table.

He tapped the pen against the blank notepad, bent over it as he sat on his couch. "There's definitely schooling..." he mumbled to himself as he scribbled that down on the paper. "Food will cost more, and there's also clothes," he continued to list out-loud as he wrote whatever came to mind. "Toys?" What did one need to plan for to make sure he could afford children? And not only one, but two?

Once he was done making a list of what he could think of, Richie moved on to check on his money and how much he usually spent a month. Since he lived alone and really didn't spend much money on anything, he had never bothered to come up with a budget. However, if he even wanted to consider adopting any children, he had no choice but to come up with one. He wouldn't be able to spend so much money on food just because he could anymore.

"How much do I need to have saved up?" he asked himself as he stared at his receipts and bank information to see his savings and how much he usually spent every month. He scratched his head, far from being an expert in saving or organizing money. He spent as much money as he needed since he was alone and since his job allowed him to do that. Obviously, he didn't work for minimum wage, and his salary was actually pretty well-off. Despite that, he was paranoid that it wouldn't be enough to keep three people afloat, especially not when two of them were kids that basically had to start school from the beginning, despite their age, and whom didn't have anything in terms of clothes or toys. Usually, a couple got together, and if they did get a kid, at least it was two people bringing back two paychecks a week. In Richie's case, he was alone and despite his good salary, it still didn't compare to a couple working two jobs.

He spent a few hours going around in circles, scribbling possible scenarios on the notepad but ending up scratching them out. Had he known it would be this complicated, he would've left the hospital much earlier than this. It was already pitch-black outside, and he'd promised the kids he would be back by morning.

With a nervous sigh, Richie picked up his phone and dialed the number of the only person he could ask all of this to.
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Postby Jaykobell » 07/15/2012 4:37 PM

"I... What I'm asking is how much money do I have to have saved up to make sure I'm not putting everything I have in jeopardy."

"You're retarded," the harsh voice on the side of the line said, and Richie could imagine his boss blowing a huge puff of smoke. "You're doing it wrong. You can't plan how much money kids are gonna cost you, stupid."

He'd figured that calling his boss would be the best thing to do, but the officer was slowly regretting his decision. As per usual, his boss played the condescending role and basically lectured him about every single thing Richie was saying or doing wrong. "What do you mean, I can't plan how much money they'll cost me? There's schooling, more food to buy, clothes to buy for them, toys—"

"Yeah, and a whole bunch of other shit you couldn't possibly imagine," his boss interrupted, the words coming to his mind without hesitation. As a father himself, it wasn't surprising that Richie had called him for advice; thankfully, he had called him, considering the officer needed a lot of help here. "Richie, keep your OCD shit under the radar. You won't be good to those kids if you start micromanaging every single little piece of shit thing you have to buy or save for," he added without leaving room for Richie to really retort. "Kids are like a batshit insane gamble. Never know if you're gonna lose or win."

There was a short pause between the two, with Richie actually being fairly unnerved. "Do you... usually win?"

He'd expected a relieving answer from his boss, but instead, the officer heard the big man laugh whole-heartedly, and for a second, Richie was almost afraid that the man was going to choke. "Hahah... Hah! You're fucking hilarious, lass," his boss eventually answered, sighing from the good laugh. "You never win when you've got tykes in your life, Richie. They will ruin everything in your life the moment they show up."
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Postby Jaykobell » 07/15/2012 4:39 PM

There was yet another pause as Richie rubbed the bridge of his nose, getting even more stressed. "I... Can I even do this...? I don't like the sound of that..."

"If you shut the fuck up and let things come at you, then yeah, you can do it," the phone retorted, the voice actually quite serious. "Richie, having kids ain't hard. It's a responsibility, an investment, a relationship — and a whole lot of other shit. You gotta go with the flow to have kids. You teach them life, you teach them values, and you teach them whatever the fuck they need to know to be intelligent citizens." There was a pause in his boss' monologue, as Richie heard him blow another puff of smoke. "You've met my kids, right? Aren't I right?"

"Well... They were... fairly well-mannered, yes." Considering who their father was, Richie had to admit he'd been genuinely impressed by his boss' children the first time they'd met. Well-mannered, intelligent, and with stable jobs. Of course, maybe they were little monsters at home, but it was important to implement a sort of politeness with children when they were outside the home.

"Damn fucking right they are!" the big man replied with a heartfelt laugh. "Anyway, you done wasting my time with stupid questions? You gonna adopt them?"

There was a sigh from Richie, after which came a short pause. "Well, I... Maybe," he replied hesitantly, still not sure if he was comfortable with this whole thing or not. He liked having a good idea of what was going to happen. Going with the flow was something Richie had a very hard time doing.

"You ain't gonna manage it if you go with a maybe," his boss replied harshly, raising his voice a bit. "S'not like you to hesitate the shit out of something! Or are you actually growing up without me noticing?"

Richie sighed again, letting a hand run through his hair. "Talk to you later, then," he replied somewhat irritatingly before hanging up, the laughter from his boss echoing as he shut the phone off.
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