Panda walks up just as Jalisa hurries outside to find Grace, who goes missing first thing the next morning. Grace is safe in the ball pit. Jalisa stops to greet Panda with a hug that he happily accepts.
Panda: Oh my…I thought we were meeting to have a nice brunch or something. I wasn’t expecting this.
Voidcritter: We won’t even have time to eat…we’re in charge of these 6 toddlers for the next 6 hours.
Panda: Six hours? Okay…where do we start?
Voidcritter: First, we get Grace back inside…then we make sure not to lose anybody else.
Panda follows Jalisa inside and sits down, clearly feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Panda: I’ve never really been around children before. I have no idea what I should do. This is terrifying!
Voidcritter: Just be exactly who you are. They’re just like us…only smaller and a bit more helpless. You’ll be just fine, Angus.
Panda: But-
Jalisa steps away before Angus can say anything else. Little Baylee walks over to check him out…
Baylee: The bear says, ‘roarrrrrr’!
Panda: *nervous* Well…I’m not the type of bear that roars, but—
Baylee: *insistent tone* Say, ‘ROARRRRRRR’!
Panda: Yeah, okay… *weak roar*
Voidcritter: C’mon…you can give her a better roar than that Angus!
Panda: Yeah, uh…Roarrrrr!
Baylee giggles and is satisfied to hear the bear roar.
Panda has made a little friend…
Baylee: Up!
Panda gets up and picks her up…
Panda: You’re supposed to say, ‘Up, please!’
Baylee: Up, peas?
Panda: Much better…now, where should we go?
Baylee: Play!
Panda: Okay…*looks around* I see some toys over here. Let’s see what we can find to play with.
Angus carries Baylee over to the toy area and puts her down near some blocks. She begins to stack them. He doesn’t join her. Instead, he walks over to the other toddlers to see where he’s needed. He sits down and waves at Cannon.
Panda: How are you? You don’t seem to be having much fun. Do you want to go play with toys, too?
Cannon isn’t haven’t much fun and shows Angus that by biting him when he tries to play with him…
Angus is glad that his costume is padded and protects him from the bite.
Panda: Well…that wasn’t very nice. Biting hurts. We don’t want to hurt our friends.
Cannon walks away and a few of the other toddlers walk over. Music supposedly soothes the savage beast, so Panda hopes it works for toddlers too. He turns on the music…praying it’ll keep Jaxen, Baylee and Grace occupied for a while. It works and soon they are swaying and bopping to the music.
Silvia: I hungry right now…not later.
Panda: *chuckles* Okay, what do you like to eat?
Silvia: Food!
That doesn’t narrow things down for Angus, but he carries her over to one of the highchairs and hopes for the best.
Panda’s not sure what to give Silvia to eat, so he gives her one of his favorites. He puts some peas in a bowl and places them in front of her. She just stares at them.
Panda: You don’t like peas? You said you wanted food…and peas are food. I like peas.
Silvia: Peas is yucky food!
Panda: Um…okay. Let me try again…
Silvia decides that she wants the peas and begins to eat them before Angus can take them away. He sighs in relief just as Jaxen walks over.
Panda: What can I do for you, little sir?
Jaxen’s communication level isn’t as high as Silvia’s, so he just babbles.
Panda: Uh…I didn’t quite catch that. Are you hungry, too?
Angus is saved by the bell. Jalisa walks over and gives him a big hug.
Voidcritter: You did a great job, Angus! I knew you had it in you. You can go now…I can handle things from here.
Although Angus is free to go…he doesn’t leave (even when I tried using MCCC twice to make him leave the lot). He begins grabbing dirty dishes and helps Jalisa clean up for a whole extra hour.
(The Voidcritter) Angus was clearly uncomfortable at first. But he soon warmed up to the job. I knew his sweet personality would make him a natural around the babies. After his time was up, I told Angus that he could leave, but he wouldn’t. In fact, he stayed and helped clean up until the end.
28 Blind Date Summaries | read from the beginning
