Chapter Text
Children laughed and yelled, talked and squealed as they often did as they played on the pre-school grounds together before the start of class. The sound was a lovely accompaniment as Miss Janet sat by the classroom window, sipping morning tea and facing the view of the kids socialising with guardians dropping off their little ones.
There was a bit of a buzz, some children had brought their pets with them and others brought toys and things they had worked on, a kind of show and tell for their favourite animals. Two kids were jousting with stuffed giraffe toys, another was wearing a headband with faux moose horns and play-charging at people, there were goldfish in bowls, bunnies, a toy bat was being held over other’s to spook them and more. It was nice to see them so excited, just a little exercise to get them speaking and it worked wonders for even some of the shyest students.
Peering out of the window, she was tempted to hop over the sill and into the playground just to get chatting to everyone but reigned in her enthusiasm to have the kids present in class and she could finish her morning tea. Still, the energy and adorableness was a major part of why she loved this job and it only added to her good mood to have it so abundant. Taking a long sip and letting her gaze wander over the sea of children and parents dropping off their kids, Janet noticed the unmistakable approach of a certain young student and her uncle only making her mood even better.
Pan was walking with confident steps, chatting away to the tall fighter and he was listening to every word, dropping in the odd reply as needed and the wholesome scene as the pair approached the school.
Janet couldn't help but watch, they were so cute! Pan's happiness and open nature was evidence enough of her healthy support system and there was no one Pan talked about more than her beloved uncle. Children could be frightfully honest so for her to so consistently loving about the guy was a fantastic endorsement. As they got closer to the school, the pair coincidentally stopped not far from the window and Janet could overhear part of the conversation, especially after Pan looked around at the other children and realised that everyone had brought in their pets or items for the assignment.
The little girl gasped prompting Piccolo to ask ‘what's the matter?’
‘I forgot to do my homework!’ she answered with urgency and a bit of a whine.
Piccolo looked at Pan with a raised brow, ‘they give you homework in preschool? what was the homework?’
‘To pick my favourite aminal!’
‘Aminal? what is....oh, as in…animal?’
‘Yes, a aminal!’ the child confirmed in her own adorable way and Janet had to stifle the giggle at overhearing. ‘We were supposed to bring in like a toy or a picture of our favourite aminal’ Pan explained, her big eyes and expression turning disappointed.
‘I see’ Piccolo said, he himself looking around at the other children and realised the presence of the small pets, toys and plushies of various "aminals" as Pan put it. Honestly, Piccolo had half a mind to call Gohan for an explanation as to why simple homework wasn't completed and Pan was able to go to school empty handed. She was a good student and clearly wanted to complete the assignment. With a small sigh, Piccolo added ‘it's not like you're going to get in trouble for forgetting it.’
‘No, but…but I wanted to’ the child replied looking very glum, ‘I was gonna make one.’
‘Make one?’
‘Yeah...’
‘Why?’ Piccolo asked openly, the girl's family had money and there were few animals that she didn't have a toy of already. That, however, was when Pan explained ‘I was gonna make it 'cause my favourite aminal doesn't exist…’
‘Like something mythical?’ her uncle replied, trying to understand.
‘No…’
‘Pan, what do you mean?’
The girl looked up, hands gesturing as she talked, ‘my favourite aminals are the penguin and the cat…’ and she held out one hand at a time before then she brought them together to imply a melding ‘smoosh.’
‘...what?’
‘A penguin-cat, a kitguin, a…peneko!’ The girl said, little arms flailing wildly with excitement as she talked about her favourite animal that didn't exist.
‘A...peneko? You mean a mix of a cat and a penguin?’
'Yeah. Penguins are silly and look after eggs in a way that's cool. Cats are fluffy and awesome and cute. A combo-mation is the bestest!’
'The word is "combination", Pan' Piccolo replied, though her young way of speaking as rather endearing, and he added ‘is a "Peneko" allowed for the assignment?’
‘Why not?’
Janet stayed, just obscured by the window as she listened to everything. Pan's "peneko" idea was perfectly fine, these little assignments are essentially to get kids talking and sharing anyway, but she could hardly handle how earnestly Piccolo was talking with and listening to the little girl. Despite that tough exterior, what a sweetheart.
‘Fair point’ Janet heard Piccolo reply in his warm gruff voice, ‘what does a Peneko look like?’
‘It doesn't exist!’ Pan explained and Janet put a her hand over her mouth to keep from chuckling out loud.
Piccolo, in a lovely sound, did chuckle before asking ‘you must have some idea, what were you going to make?’
‘I have a drawing but I spilled orange juice on it though, a peneko is not orange’ Pan answered and Janet could hear the girl quickly rummaging through her backpack
Piccolo accepted the crumpled drawing, the picture was indeed stained with orange juice and the child's squiggly drawing was informative enough to get a good idea of what she was imagining. A beak, cat ears and more. ‘Why can't you just show your drawing?’
‘It has orange juice on it! A peneko needs to be all cute and this is all not!’ she exclaimed, pointing to the paper in her uncle's talons.
Fair. With another small sigh, the namek asked ‘how were you gonna make it?’
‘I don't know yet' Pan shrugged 'I forgot to do it so I never figured it out.’
Piccolo couldn't help but give her a soft look, the tot pretty adorable and he found himself mulling over how to help. He knew how but he took a moment studying the drawing again, thinking on how to adapt it and deciding there really was no other option outside of having the girl present her sad drawing. Janet moved closer to the window during the pause, curiosity too strong and she approached the sill just in time to watch Piccolo use what she could only imagine was magic. In a puff of smoke, suddenly, was a plush peneko!
Janet couldn't contain the gasp of surprise and soon following awe, the plush had clearly appeared so suddenly and out of nowhere, it was purple and white with features of both penguins and cats and looked very soft. Piccolo's sensitive hearing picked up on the gasp, turning to find the source of the sound he matched Miss Janet's warm brown eyes much to his own surprise. A purple blush slowly creeping over his skin as he realised the woman had seen him do such a thing while, equally, Janet too felt herself blush at being caught watching through the window.
The moment of the two adults facing each other was cut short however as Pan looked at the newly materialised Peneko and let out a squeal of delight, drawing both back to look at her. Janet, caught, moved forward to lean out of the window a little and watch as Pan's facial expression grew in a mix of excitement, disbelief and pure joy.
‘It's a peneko!!!’ Pan cheered, the girl bouncing with eager energy and even more so as Piccolo leaned down to hand her the plush which she accepted like the Peneko was the most incredible thing she had ever seen. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you, Uncle Piccolo!! It's amazing!' Pan added, her small arms barely able to wrap around the thing but she tried to give Piccolo's leg a hug with it in hand too before the child ran to the window sill and help up the toy to show her teacher. ‘Miss Janet, Miss Janet -look! Uncle Piccolo made me a peneko!!’
‘I can see that, Pan!’ Miss Janet replied with a bewildered smile, looking between the happy girl and her new toy before shyly peering up to the stoic uncle who was trying not to meet her eye. She's witnessed him being sweet on Pan a hundred times but there were only so many he knew he'd been seen. The few times she'd witnessed him being a big softie he struggled under the gaze and, if anything, the pre-school teacher only found the bashfulness even more endearing.
‘Do you know what it is? The peneko??’ Pan asked, hoping that someone else could understand her favourite animal.
‘Why, yes I do. It's a penguin and a cat if you smooshed them together’ Janet replied happily, using Pan's own words she had overheard automatically and only afterwards realising just how much of the conversation she'd heard was betrayed with it. Too late now.
Pan gasped with joy, turning to look at the Namek and exclaiming ‘Uncle Piccolo, Miss Janet knows what a peneko is!!!’ The child was so excited she could hardly contain it, she hugged the toy and beamed up at both adults with pride.
Seeing just how thrilled Pan Janet felt her heart flutter at the adorableness in front of her. Pan looked like she was having a great time, the girl likely to be happy if Piccolo made her anything at all but the fact that it was her favourite "aminal" and it's made by her favourite grown up? She was clearly over the moon with the plush.
‘I'm gonna go show everybody, you're the best, Uncle Piccolo!!’ Pan said and was already zooming off to show her friends, leaving the pair of adults alone.
Janet leaned even further out of the window, careful of children's projects by the sill as she leaned on her elbows and gave a smile to the namek. ‘That was adorable’ she said, knowing it would make him blush even deeper and she couldn't help it, he was too cute like that. The big guy was rather shy despite his reputation when it came to all the mushy stuff and a compliment could be enough to make an impact sometimes.
‘I presume you were listening the whole time?’ Piccolo said, voice a little awkward but friendly, knowing Miss Janet was a lovely person and she had only ever been nice to him. For a human not tied up in all the strangeness of his usual group that was rather rare.
‘My classroom is just here,’ Janet was quick to explain, ‘and that was a real sweet thing to do and she looks up to you so much’ she mused, Piccolo not sure how to take such praise but she wasn't about to pretend he hadn't just been so kind to Pan. ‘That was a neat trick too, amazing really.’
Piccolo struggled to find words. He was used to compliments about fighting at best, concentration or strategy. It was only recently he was adapting to anything more domestic and mostly through Pan and Gohan. Miss Janet? This human had no motivation to say such things but she was incredibly kind, he wasn't entirely sure what to do when such a wonderful human said things so freely and positively about him.
‘...and that toy is awfully cute,' Miss Janet added, not letting Piccolo's quietness sit too long, 'and Pan picks great animals, they were my favourites growing up too.’
‘Oh?’ was all Piccolo said, a thought occurring at what she had just said.
‘Yeah, but I think I agree with Pan, they're even cuter smooshed’ Janet giggled at the silly conversation, just glad to get to chat with the guy.
What she didn't expect, however, was for Piccolo to then repeat what he had just done for Pan, in a puff of smoke and light there was another peneko plush in his talons and he held it out to her to take. Blinking, Janet just stared for a long moment, Piccolo's dark eyes looking away as he handed the toy to her and she slowly took the plush into her own hands. Piccolo...just made her a peneko? With magic? For her? Before Piccolo could feel embarrassment or doubt at what he had just done, it had honestly just felt like the right thing to do with what she had said, but he started thinking that the pre-school teacher might find the action not to her liking and he look a fool, Miss Janet's lips curved into a big smile and she was practically beaming at the spontaneous gift. She even had to bite her lip from squealing like Pan did.
‘Oh, it's so cute! Thank you so much!’ Miss Janet cooed and her warm eyes looked up to Piccolo with unabashed joy in them.
‘...d-don't mention it’ the shy namek mumbled, still struggling to look her in the eye as she gave her new plush a hug.
Adding to the moment, Pan then returned, running her way back to the pair and gasping again at the sight of another peneko in Janet's arms. The teacher spared no time in sharing in the happiness as she showed off her matching toy, ‘look, Pan! Your Uncle Piccolo made me one too since we have the same favourite animal.’
The next squeal from the girl was so high pitched that Piccolo winced and had to cover his ears, ‘penekos are the best, that's so cool!!
Pan and Miss Janet started talking about their penekos, excitedly talking amongst themselves and how great Piccolo was for making them. Piccolo had half a mind to just leave, this was too much, before Pan made a loud suggestion.
‘You should come to dinner at my house, Miss Janet! You could bring the peneko!’
‘Oh?’ Janet chuckled, ‘well, I’d love to go but you have to ask your parents and we can set something up?’
Nodding, Pan then moved over to her uncle and grabbed a handful of his gi pant leg as she looked up and checked ‘uh-huh, Uncle Piccolo will be there too, right?’ The girls big eyes left little room to reject, besides, he was there often enough for dinner so he gave a simple nod. ‘Awesome!' Pan cheered.
Piccolo cleared his throat, the whole exchange quite a lot and he needed to get this silly blush under control. ‘I, uh...I’ll see you at the dinner then?’
Janet felt her own face heating up again, finding it hard not to take in the sight of the tall alien. The playful purple blush over his emerald skin, he was so interesting to look at and handsome too. 'I'd like that...' she almost hummed before he gave a nod, waved bye to both Janet and Pen and headed off.
Later that day, Gohan arrived at the pre-school to pick up his daughter and cheerily made his way to the building despite the rain. Due to the turn in weather, children waiting to be picked up were in the classroom and, the moment he was through the door, Pan rushed to see him, 'Daddy!' cheered as she was picked up and into his arms.
Gohan chuckled and mused 'well someone seems to have had a great day today' at her good mood.
It was then that he looked at what she was carrying, a big stuffed toy that he didn't recognise and he didn't recognise it from the play area. ‘Where did you get that?’
‘Uncle Piccolo made it for me!’ Pan proudly explained before lifting the toy to her father's face and adding ‘it's a peneko.’
The word "peneko" rang a bell and, looking at the features of the plush, he realised from where. ‘Oh yeah, a cat and a penguin. It's cute...but...oh, shoot, we forgot to make something, huh? But then...uh...?'
‘We forgot but Uncle Piccolo made this and it's so soft and perfect!' Pan said and Gohan breathed a small sigh of relief, glad his friend was so reliable and able to pick up slack though he did feel a little embarrassed to have slipped up again. 'He made one for Miss Janet too!’
‘He..Oh, Piccolo did, did he?’ Gohan said, a little surprised. He didn't know that Piccolo talked so much with Miss Janet but he supposed that they must have gotten to know each other at least a little.
‘Yup,' his daughter nodded 'and can we have Miss Janet over for dinner soon? I asked and I said Uncle Piccolo would be there and Miss Janet said she would love to.’
'Huh...' Gohan voiced, Pan is just recanting what happened but it implied that the pair rather liked each other's company.
As Miss Janet walked nearby, waving off a student leaving with their parent, Gohan asked ‘uh, Miss Janet?’
‘Oh, hello Gohan, Pan's presentation went excellently today’ she said ‘very creative’ before gesturing good naturally towards the very custom plush.
About to ask if the teacher had hers too, Gohan spotted it over her shoulder towards her desk. The second peneko plush sitting on the teacher's chair, it had even been given a school tie and it looked almost like a studying student with the papers in front of it.
Shaking the distraction from his head, Gohan looked to the sweet woman and invited ‘that's great, and uh...Pan was wondering if you would like to come for dinner, we'd love to have you over. How does tomorrow night sound?’
‘Looking forward to it,' Miss Janet replied with a smile before curiously adding 'will that be enough notice for Piccolo to come too?’
So...she is interested in Piccolo being there? ‘W-we have dinner with him a lot, shouldn't be a problem’ Gohan reassured, a little stunned by the thoughts swimming about his head. If he wasn't fooling himself, was she blushing? She certainly looked cheery about it and mentioned Piccolo by name.
‘Will you bring your peneko too, Miss Janet?’ Pan asked.
‘I will bring my peneko’ the teacher confirmed with a smile before turning and looking towards her own plush fondly, even a little smitten. Meanwhile, Gohan tried his best to keep his reaction neutral - secretly beyond excited - at such a lovely new friend for Piccolo. Friend. Gohan made sure to curb any of his wilder thoughts than that, but maybe she had a crush? did she? how much did she like him? in what way? was Miss Janet single? no wedding ring, w- okay, Gohan wasn't very good at keeping his thoughts under control. Friend, that was enough to be excited about alone, Piccolo not being the most social.
So, as Pan looked super excited to have the teacher joining them for dinner, Gohan decided that he would happily host to try and nurture whatever this connection could be...
'Great, sounds like a plan, Miss Janet!'
TBC...