Trooper Station | Saturday

[knife_bender]

Diego didn't actually need to figure out something weird was going on thanks to being woken up by a loud, hyper, very small version of his girlfriend this morning. Since adult Annie probably wouldn't forgive him for leaving a child alone in her apartment (and he wasn't that much of an asshole) he dragged her to work with him and immediately sicced her on the donuts Ralph brought. Maybe that would keep her quiet for...a whole five minutes?

It probably wouldn't be cool to lock up a child in one of the cells, would it? Oh well, he could dream.

[Open]

Comments

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had found her Starlight outfit in the boring closet this morning - which, at this age, had featured white cowgirl boots and a little white vest and skirt combination with gold stars - and of course she had insisted on wearing her prettiest clothes.

Which meant that when she came back with half a donut, she was actually walking and holding it out away from herself with very careful hands so she wouldn't get anything on the pretty clothes. Because Mommy would be so mad.

Granted, she had not taken the same care with her face, which had sprinkles all over it. "Wanna share?" she asked Diego, offering out the somewhat mangled donut half. It was nice to share with friends, because even if there were lots of donuts over there, Annie had gotten the last one with sprinkles, and what if that was her friend Diego's favorite? (It was, unsurprisingly, hers.)

[knife_bender]

"Uh, no thanks." Somehow a half-crushed donut was not very appetizing. "Did you offer any to the troopers?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie looked hesitant. "No...." Because the troopers were a little scary, but she didn't want to admit she was scared of anything.

"But I only took one," she added with a serious little nod. "And I said grace first." Because you had to make sure to bless food before you ate it or you went to Hell, probably. Annie was a little fuzzy on the details.

[knife_bender]

"...good job?" He had no idea what exactly saying grace first was supposed to do. "You can have as many donuts as you want."

Sure, let the child have as much sugar as she wanted, that was a smart thing to do.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie seemed pretty unsure about that, but also willing to go along with this plan because donuts. "Daddy only lets me have one when we have secret donuts, 'cause my mommy says sugar's bad and makes you ugly," she told Diego, breaking her donut half in two so she could carefully shove some in her mouth, but also so she could get crumbs all over the place. Unintended side effect, but still.

[knife_bender]

"Sounds like your mom is full of shit." Sure, that was an appropriate thing to say to a child.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You said a bad word!" Said through a mouth of donut, yes, but given the alarmed look Annie was giving him, it probably was still pretty clear.

[knife_bender]

"I'm an adult, I can say whatever words I want," Diego said.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie considered this information carefully. "But what if I say the bad word, too?" she wondered.

She would never, but it was important to know whether she'd get in trouble for it.

[knife_bender]

Diego smiled and shrugged. "Go ahead. See what happens."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I don't wanna get in trouble," Annie said in a whisper, shaking her head at him because this seemed like a trap.

[knife_bender]

"Come on, do it," Diego said. "Don't be a chicken."

He was terrible.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'm not a chicken!" Annie frowned, then looked around carefully as though one or both of her parents might just appear from around a corner or something.

"Shit." She immediately covered her mouth with both hands, looking at Diego in obviously delighted horror at herself.

[knife_bender]

"Well now I have to arrest you." He was an awful person.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie immediately looked like she might cry. "Nooooooo!"

She couldn't go to jail!! She was supposed to put people in jail! And she'd get in so much trouble with her mom!

[knife_bender]

Oh okay now he felt a little bad.

"Hey, hey I was kidding," Diego said, crouching down to get on her level. "It was a joke, don't cry."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie calmed down pretty quick, which was good news for the electricity in the building because she really did not have a handle on her powers yet. "That's a mean joke," she told him, frowning. "You shouldn't be mean!"

Oh no, scolding from a preschooler, now.

[knife_bender]

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to keep a straight face. Little Annie was in no way as intimidating as she thought she was. "I won't do it again, I promise."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie considered this carefully. "Pinkie promise?" she asked, extending her hand with her little pinkie finger outstretched.

The most solemn of oaths.

[knife_bender]

Diego huffed, rolling his eyes at the whole situation before hooking his pinky with hers, completing the sacred pinky promise bond. "The pinkiest. Happy?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Almost. Because little Annie was just as affectionate as big Annie - maybe even more so - and she liked to seal forgiveness with a hug.

So she stepped forward to loop her little arms around Diego's neck, completely unconcerned about how sticky she was.

[knife_bender]

Aw, that was kind of cute. It was a little awkward considering Diego had hugged approximately zero kids in his life, but still.

"I think you got sprinkles down my shirt." It was cute until that, at least.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Shh," Annie soothed him nonsensically, patting his shoulder. "It's nice to have sprinkles."

Adult Annie was going to find them everywhere come Monday.

[knife_bender]

"Whatever you say, kid," Diego said, laughing a little. "I'll keep them there just for you."

No, he was shaking them out of his shirt as soon as he got the chance. Probably in the bathroom which would allow tiny Annie a chance to escape.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"If I have more donuts you won't tell?" Annie checked, because she was totally going to crush at least one more donut and only eat a quarter of it before she went racing off. "Mommy said my in-trouble name when she found out 'bout secret donuts before."

Which was why Annie's father had been very careful to make sure she really understood the concept of a secret before taking her out for treats again, as he had also gotten in trouble.