Chapter Text
The life of Barley Lightfoot has definitely been a difficult journey. His parents Laurel and Wilden had always planned to have multiple children, but due to the latter tragically passing away when Barley was only three years-old, that never came to be. Barley grew up with his mother as an only child, they were always there for each other in their darkest hours. Apart from his father passing away, his life was mostly fine. Sure, there were a few bumps in the road here and there, but overall, it was good.
He had an incredible home life with his extremely loving mother, but that was about the only good thing he’d had going. He never had many close friends growing up, because he was always an outcast. He never got the best grades in school, mostly due to the fact that his mind was always racing, and it was an immense challenge to slow it down. While his mother loved him more than anything else in the world, Barley never felt like his life was truly complete . If he didn’t have the company of his mother, he was often alone.
And when his mother passed away due to a fatal car accident, Barley was truly alone .
Alone on his own at nineteen years old. He tried so hard to keep the house he grew up in, but ultimately, there was no way he could afford to pay the mortgage and water bills with the low salary he was earning. He had to move into an apartment, try to keep up with rent with only his minimum wage job at the game shop to pay for it. For a long time, he was struggling financially. That is, until that fateful day he saw the job opening for New Mushroomton Elementary’s after school daycare program. There was an opening for another caregiver, specifically in the Kindergarten after school program.
Barley applied for the position, not expecting to be hired since he had no previous childcare experience. So when he got a call a few days after his interview asking if he would like to take the job, he was shocked to say the least, but he was also incredibly grateful. He always had a fondness towards children and their imaginations – which most likely stemmed from the fact that he had always wished for a younger sibling – and he would be honored to work at a daycare.
With the job accepted, he now had a better income, mostly fixing his financial struggles. The daycare program ran right from when school let out, until six in the evening when they would close. This allowed Barley to also keep his position at the game store, as he simply got his hours there changed to morning shifts. His life on his own was starting to look a little brighter.
Barley had been working at the daycare for a whole month, and he absolutely loved every second he got to spend with the children. The kindergartens were so sweet and full of life, they could put a smile on his face no matter how down he might be feeling. His coworkers noticed Barley instantly became the fan-favorite teacher among the children, and most of them admired how easily he would interact with any of the kids.
On this particular day in the after school program, everything was running as it usually did. Barley was wiping down the tables for the children’s snack as his program partners unlocked the cupboards and set out some activities. They were prepared for the school bell to ring, but just moments before, their director, Nevi, walked into their classroom.
Barley’s coworker – a female satyr named Hazel – noticed. “Hello, Nevi!”
“Good afternoon, Hazel,” Nevi replied with a smile. At the voice of his boss, Barley finished with the last table and made his way over to the conversation.
“Hey, Nevi!” he smiled, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “What’ya got for us?” he asked as his other program partner – a cyclops named Devon – walked over as well.
Nevi handed a piece of paper that was in her hand to Barley. “I just wanted to quickly inform the three of you that you will have a new child in your program starting today,” the centaur explained, clasping her hands in front of herself. “He just started school today, so he might need some help adjusting to the busy daycare environment.”
Barley looked down at the piece of paper his director had handed to him. It contained all the information on this new child, just like all the other sheets for daycare children they had on file in their attendance binder. He read the child’s name to himself, Iandore. He noticed that no last name accompanied his first, but he dismissed it. He quickly skimmed the sheet for any allergies, noting that Iandore had none.
“Now, I just want you all to be aware that I have been informed that Iandore has anxiety, but I have no doubts that you three are going to make sure he feels right at home here,” Nevi smiled again, turning towards the door. “I’ll leave you to it! Good luck with your new student!”
“Thank you!” Barley called out, turning to Devon and Hazel afterwards. “Aw, I can’t wait to meet this kid,” he said, holding the sheet with Iandore’s information in front of him just as the school bell rang. “I’ll let you two look that over, I can greet the kids at the door.”
In the few minutes after the bell rang, the kindergartens began to file into the daycare room, Barley giving them each a high-five as he checked them off the attendance list. He smiled at all the familiar faces, his expression softening when the last child came through the door.
At the very end of the line stood the one child Barley had never met; Iandore, clutching the straps of his backpack as tight as his little hands could grasp.
The boy was quite small, both in height and build. He had bright blue curly hair and ears that still seemed too big for his head. His knees were buckled together and he was slightly folded in on himself, clearly anxious.
Barley noticed the boy’s demeanor, so he tried his best to be as calm as possible. “Hey, you must be Iandore!”
He nodded as he looked up at Barley with his big brown eyes, his expression fearful. “I-is this t-the daycare room?” he asked quietly, his voice close to inaudible. “My teacher told me that I a-am supposed to come here u-until I get picked up…”
Barley smiled sweetly at the young boy, who couldn’t be much more than five years-old. “You’re in the right place, bud,” he assured him, kneeling down to the little boy’s level and holding his hand up. “Welcome to after school care, Iandore! I’m Barley, do you want a high-five?”
The young boy softly high-fived Barley, smiling slightly as he twiddled with the hem of his striped shirt. “Thank you, Mr. Barley.”
Barley chuckled at the boy’s politeness, finding it adorably sweet. “You can put your backpack in one of those cubbies over there, if you’d like,” he told him, pointing over to the right side of the room. “You can go to your bag any time you want to.”
Iandore nodded, quietly shuffling over to the cubby area. As Barley watched the new boy carefully put his backpack away, he couldn’t help but notice how hesitant he was to leave his bag. The young boy stood in front of his backpack for a moment before he slowly walked away, glancing back at it for a quick moment. Barley smiled when the boy met his gaze, turning to the other children.
“Are we ready for a snack, everyone?” he asked, noticing Devon wheel out the cart.
The children all cheered with joy, lining up to wash their hands. Iandore watched the other children, following what they did. After each child washed their hands, they would find a seat at one of the tables. The children had friendships formed already and would usually sit in the same spots, so when Iandore walked away from the sink, he looked a little lost.
Everyone seemed to know exactly where to go, who they wanted to sit with. Iandore had no idea where to go or who to sit beside. Sure, he could recognize a few kids from his kindergarten class, but he hadn’t actually talked to any of them today. He was too anxious to talk to anyone during the day, and that anxiety was certainly still there.
As Barley sat down at one of the three snack tables to serve the food, he noticed Iandore just standing there. The poor boy’s brown eyes were as wide as saucers as his gaze zipped around the room, the nail of his left index finger caught between his teeth. It was easy for Barley to tell the boy was unsure of where to sit, so he got up and grabbed an extra chair, placing it beside the one he sat in.
“Iandore,” he called, sitting back down in his seat and patting the small chair beside him. The boy turned his gaze towards Barley, a worried look on his face, almost as if he thought he had done something wrong. “You can sit beside me, if you want,” Barley smiled gently, once again patting the little chair next to him.
Iandore nodded and shuffled over to the open seat, his fingernail still between his teeth. Once Iandore seemed comfortable in his seat, Barley began to serve snack at his table, first pouring the small cups of water for each child. Next came the crackers and cheese strings, then he could cut up the fruit.
While Barley was cutting up the apples, he glanced at every child, making sure they were all okay. He smiled to himself at the little conversations the kids were having amongst themselves as they ate, and he would interject when the opportunity presented itself, often making the kids laugh. When he passed the apple slices around, each child said thank you, but when he got to Iandore, he noticed the boy had barely touched his food.
“Would you like apple slices, Iandore?” he asked the young boy, leaning down towards him just a bit.
“Yes please,” he nodded, his voice almost inaudible again.
“Thank you for being so polite!” Barley handed the boy some apple slices, watching as he ate one. He wondered why his crackers and cheese were practically untouched. “Are you not very hungry?” he asked, gesturing to the food that was in front of the boy.
Iandore shook his head, continuing to slowly munch on his apple slice. “I think I just want apples…”
“That’s alright,” Barley assured him. “You eat what you’re hungry for, okay?”
Iandore nodded, and Barley could see the slightest smile tug at the corners of the boy's mouth. He hoped he was helping the young boy feel comfortable on his first day at the daycare.
After each child had finished their snack and washed their hands again, they all ran off to play independently. Hazel cleaned up any mess left behind from snack time, while Devon set up one of the now empty tables for children who wanted to color. Barley wandered around the room, checking in on the small groups of kids and asking what they were doing. As he wandered around, he realized he had lost sight of Iandore. He glanced around the room frantically, his suddenly racing heart slowing down when he located the boy.
Iandore had wandered over to the cubbies, where he was currently pulling something out of his backpack. Barley watched from a distance as the boy pulled a yellow and green stuffed dragon from his bag, holding it out in front of him before he squeezed it tight in his little arms. His comfort item… He then sat down with his dragon in front of the cubbies, flapping its wings with his hands before he curled up and held it tight again.
Barley felt badly that the little boy was all alone, so he did a quick scan of the room to make sure the rest of the children were okay, before he slowly approached Iandore.
“Hey, buddy,” he spoke gently, sitting down beside the young boy. “I like your dragon! What’s its name?”
Iandore looked up with wide eyes, a sparkle in them as he smiled, clearly filled with joy that someone was interested in his favorite possession. “Thank you…her name is Blazey…”
“Blazey, what a cool name!” Barley grinned. “Is there a reason you named her that?”
“Because she breathes fire!” Iandore exclaimed, letting out a little roar as he held his plush up to Barley’s face. “But don’t worry, she’s very friendly!” He brought the dragon to Barley’s face again, acting as though the plush was licking Barley with its soft tongue.
This made the man chuckle, his smile seeming to stick. “How come you and Blazey are playing all by yourselves?” he asked softly, looking at the boy sympathetically.
Iandore sighed, hugging his dragon tight again as he curled his knees to his chest. “I-I don’t really want to play alone…” he mumbled, his voice partially obstructed as his mouth was pressed against his plush. “I’m just…I’m t-too scared to try and m-make a friend…”
Barley’s brows knitted together in sadness, placing a gentle hand on the little boy’s back. “I’ll be your friend. I’ll play with you, if you want.”
Iandore looked back up with curious eyes. “But…you’re my daycare teacher…”
“Yes, that I am,” Barley nodded with a chuckle. “At daycare, your teachers will play with you. I’d love to play with you,” he smiled, rubbing his hand up and down the boy’s back. “I’ll be your friend until you’re ready to try and play with someone else. How’s that sound, Iandore?”
The little boy looked back up with his wide brown eyes, a smile on his face. “Okay,” he agreed, leaning against Barley’s side as he uncurled himself, sitting Blazey in his lap. “I’d like that, Mr. Barley.”
“Alright,” Barley chuckled again, his heart melting as the young boy felt comfortable in his presence. “And you can just call me Barley, bud. You don’t need the ‘mister’, I promise.”
“Okay, Barley,” he giggled. “And you can just call me Ian. You don’t have to call me Iandore.”
“Sounds good, Ian,” Barley grinned, giving the small boy a side hug. “Now, what would you like to play?”
“Can we just sit here and talk?” Ian asked, flapping his plush dragon’s wings again. “I’ve been busy all day, an’ I think I just wanna talk right now.”
“Yeah, we can just talk,” Barley nodded, adjusting the way he was sitting just slightly so that he would be more comfortable. “We can talk about whatever you want, Ian.”
And so, the two of them did just that. Ian told Barley all about his stuffed dragon, Blazey, followed by numerous facts about dragons of all breeds. He then talked about space, saying he wanted to be the first astronaut to set foot on both moons rather than just one. Barley listened intently to everything Ian had to say, and when Ian asked him to talk about something he liked, Barley didn’t hesitate to tell the little boy all about magic. They talked until Barley had to step away to use the restroom, and when he returned to the classroom, Devon informed him that Ian had been picked up just minutes before.
Barley was looking forward to seeing the little boy the next day, his heart feeling full over the fact that he managed to help him feel comfortable at daycare.
And the first thing that Ian did when he was picked up was talk all about his new friend; his favorite daycare teacher, Mr. Barley.