Chapter Text
Doppio loved kids. No, he adored them. There is just something so endearing about seeing those little troublemakers running about without a care in the world, wrecking havoc wherever they please. Of course the poor cleaners did not agree with that sentiment, but to Doppio, these kids were basically living the childhood he wanted to be as a kid. Plus, they're adorable .
It became no surprise that he ended up getting a job at the local daycare, the Rainbow Pacman. He took the afternoon session and looked after the kindergarten kids, and they were a wild bunch to say the least.
One particular day, Doppio was sitting in the break room with some of his co-workers, Fulgur and Kotoka. While they were talking, he scrolled through twitter, taking small sips of coffee every now and then. Just then, the door slammed open, crashing into the wall loudly. Doppio choked on his coffee and started coughing up a storm. Fulgur patted his poor coworker’s back as he continued to cough out the coffee that assaulted his throat. By the door stood Enna, pinching the bridge of her nose and letting out a deep and tired sigh. “We have a problem.”
Kotoka and Fulgur exchanged looks. “If someone took a shit in the playing area again I’m not cleaning it up.” Kotoka said as she handed the still coughing Doppio some water. Enna scrunched up her nose in disgust and shook her head. “This is why I work reception. But no, some kid has been crying for like 10 mins and I’m at my limit.” After taking several sips of water, he puts down the bottle and stands up. “Don’t worry. I got this!” He dashes out of the room and into the hallway. Enna leans back against the doorframe and tilts her head to see where he ran off to. “Other way Pio chan.” A magenta blur passes by her in the opposite direction.
Doppio walked to the front desk and caught sight of a guy kneeling in front of a small girl. From where he was standing, the guy looked pretty young, and his hair faded from black to hot pink. He was wearing a black turtleneck with a white dress shirt over it, his arm holding a grey coat. His other arm was holding the child gently as visible tear marks could be seen streaming down her face. She held in her arm a small white tiger plushie. He slowly walked beside them to avoid startling them.
“Vivian, I know you’re scared but you have to stay here, I can’t take you to work with me.” His voice was calm and gentle, as he attempted to comfort her. “But I don’t want to. Your boss can’t fire you for not abandoning your kid.” She hugged the tiger plush even tighter and sniffled. He sighed and looked up, noticing the tall magenta man looming over him. He stood up slowly, his hand still holding onto Vivian’s.
“Oh hi. I’m here to drop my daughter off. Or at least I’m trying to..” Doppio looks at the man in front of him. Now that he’s a lot closer, he notices how pale his skin is, and that his eyes are a muted red that fades into grey. He also has several black piercings on his ears, but despite that, he looked like a gentle person.
But wait, this young guy’s her father?
The guy notices Doppio staring at him silently and his eyes start shifting around uncomfortably. Doppio blinked a couple times and forced out a small cough. “Ah no worries. This isn’t the first time a kid was initially scared to be left here with us.” He turned his attention to the small girl hiding behind him. He squatted next to her and smiled. She hid even further behind him. "Hey there Vivian. I see you got a little tiger over there. What's its name?" Vivian looked down at her plush, and then nervously gripped it. "Villion…"
"Well, there are other tigers here just like Villion. Maybe you could find it a friend and make a friend of your own?" Doppio reached out his hand. Vivian glanced up at her dad nervously, before walking over to his side. "Heh. Good enough" Doppio pushed himself back up, but the man still looked anxious. "What time would you be coming to pick her up, Mr..?"
“Call me Ver, I'll pick her up at 6. And thank you... Vivian doesn’t really like leaving the house all that much so I hope she won’t cause a lot of trouble.” Ver nervously glanced at the taller male.
Doppio looked down at the small child. She refused to look him in the eye. He smiled gently and slowly patted her head. “Don’t worry, she’s safe with me.” It was as if a weight was lifted off Ver's chest, his shoulders relaxing a little and he gave a small nod. He looked at his watch, “I have to go soon. I’ll be back by 6 to pick her up. Bye Vivian!” And just like that, Ver ran out the door, leaving her with Doppio. He looked down at the small child, who was just plucking the little fur on Villion. “I bet you’re really hungry. Want something to eat?” She stared at him and blinked. Silently, she walked past him into the hallway. Doppio let out a sigh. Looks like he’s got his work cut out for him.
Vivian was an introverted kid. It took alot of talking to her (and sweets and tiger plushies) for Doppio to even strike up a single conversation. But once he did, he learned that the girl was actually quite intelligent for her age. The way she spoke was very direct and matter of fact. Unfortunately, the other kids weren’t as bright, so he had to stop her numerous times from smacking them with the poor tiger plush. Not only that, but he learned that she liked to read a bunch of webcomics, though the ones she seemed to know slightly concerned him, but hey they never messed him up as a kid. I think?
Hours passed by like minutes, and Doppio was showing off his yugioh cards to the curious Vivian. “And this one is called the Axe of Despair!” She looked at the card, but looked unimpressed. “Appa showed me that before and I said it was lame.” Doppio stared blankly at her, before clicking his tongue and keeping the card. “Well I think your Appa has great taste.” She shook her head nonchalantly. Before he could start a debate with a literal child, Enna walked into the room. “Pio chan, the kid’s dad’s here.” He thanked her and led Vivian back out to the reception area. Ver was wearing his coat this time and was looking through his phone.
He looked up and saw Vivian and Doppio walking his way. Ver gave them a small smile and thanked Doppio for looking after Vivian.
“Hi Vivian, how was your day?”
“It was fine. But turns out Mr Dropscythe is just as lame as you.”
Before either of them could react, she walked out the door and waited by the black car outside, presumably Ver’s. Ver looked back at him with wide eyes, frantically looking back at her. “That kid, I’m so sorry she’s a bit too honest sometimes. N-Not that I’m saying that the lame thing is true I’m sure you’re a very cool person but I… god I need to be stricter on manners.” He rubs the sides of his head in slight frustration while Doppio just stands there silently watching him fumble. So that’s where the lack of social skills came from.
Doppio let out a small chuckle as he reassured Ver that he didn’t mind. He’s never really encountered a kid like her before, so he was kind of excited in a way. “Apparently you collect Yugioh cards too, but she thinks it's lame.” A small embarrassed blush spreads across Ver’s cheek, as he laughs nervously. “Betrayed by my own kid..” Doppio gently patted his shoulder. “ Don’t worry, I collect them too. Nothing to be embarrassed about.” Despite the reassurance, Ver awkwardly fiddled with his collar and cleared his throat. “Uh anyways, I’ll be dropping her off every weekday around the same time if that’s okay?”
“Yeah of course! Just make sure the daycare has your number in case something happens.”
“Ah! I think I’ve already given my number. I guess I’ll get going then.”
Ver gave him a small bow and walked out of the daycare. Doppio let out a deep sigh, stretching his muscles after such a long day, but still quietly smiled to himself.
All he knows is that he’s looking forward to seeing those 2 around more often.