Babysittin'

Andre restlessly tapped his fingers against the arm of the couch as he waited for the person on the other line to pick up. He'd found himself in quite the predicament and, hopefully, this phone call would prove to be the answer to his problem.

You see, Andre was a full time college student.
A full time college student that just so happened to be practically raising his younger brother.

He didn't consider it a burden like most people assumed that he did. He loved Zacharie with every fiber in his being and hadn't batted an eyelash when their parents had suggested him taking charge of the toddler since they were 'just too busy' to look after him themselves. He couldn't fathom why they had bothered having another child if they had had no interest in raising it but...he really couldn't bring himself to really care. He had Zacharie and that was all that really mattered.

Said toddler was playing contentedly on the floor by his feet, his tiny hands grasping and knocking over the periodic table building blocks in front of him while quietly talking to himself. Andre smiled fondly down at the toddler and Zacharie, as if having sensed the attention on him, turned to regard him curiously before smiling and waving a block in his direction. "Bo." His approximation of the word 'brother'. The older male's smile grew as he reached down to gently ruffle the others hair. "Zacharie." He returned before the line clicked as the other person picked up. "Hello, Vincent?" He gave his hand over for Zacharie to chew on, "This is Andre...I was hoping I could ask a favour of you."

Vincent had an issue with a lot of things. Authority was one of them. That'd probably explain why this was his fourth job in two months. It was mostly totally not his fault- who wanted to deal with cranky, asshole bosses? Not Vincent! He was a pretty mellow guy until you pushed him too far. Maybe punching one boss, shoving another over the counter, and throwing a chair at the third was too far on his part, but... whatever.

Now he was stuck working shitty hours at a convenience store, but his boss wasn't so bad. He liked her enough. He was just getting out of work, a few hours later than scheduled, when he got a called. Glancing at the caller ID, Vincent smiled. "How's it goin', Andre? Favour, huh?" Normally Vincent would say hell no. Right after working the night shift and waiting for his late coworker to show up... but this was Andre. He had a hard time saying no to him; he liked Andre too much.

"Well, I can probably-" Vincent cut himself off with a yawn, "Probably help ya' out. What's up?"

Andre, having regained his hand from its slobery prison, sat back against the couch and crossed his legs. Absently watching Zacharie crawl off in the general direction of the Growlithe sleeping in the corner. "I've been called into work unexpectedly and-Zacharie no, don't put that in your mouth!" He sprung up from the couch to snatch the toddler off of the ground, effectively keeping the pokemon's tail away from the boy. "Bo!" Zacharie cried in outrage, kicking his little legs and straining towards the, now awake, Growlithe.

"I need you to come watch my little brother." He huffed into the phone, trying to get a better hold on the wriggling child. When it became apparent that Zacharie would not hold still, he settled him back onto the ground. "Aasim, keep an eye on Zacharie." He ordered the Growlithe before turning away to go wash his hands. "Anyway, it'd be for just a few hours and you'd be welcome to anything in the house. Of course you'll be paid for your time as well."

Babysitting? Wow. Vincent hadn't ever had someone ask him to watch a kid. He was a little worried at first, he had no idea how to take care of a child... but he tried to convince himself it couldn't be that hard. He could manage.

"Yeah, yeah... I can do that," Vincent said, grinning a bit when Andre went off to stop his little brother from whatever he was doing. "I'll be over in a few. M'still in my work clothes, hope you won't mind. The hat they gave me is pretty cool though!" He said, reaching up to straighten the black cap on his head.

He didn't take long to get to Andre's house; he had an old, beat up car that made some scary noises once in a while, but it got him where he needed to be. He knocked on Andre's door, leaning against the frame and crossing his arms, his trademark grin on his face. Maybe he'd try to earn himself a kiss before Andre left.

"Patient." Zacharie said at the knock on the door, his head lifting from where it had been resting on Aasim's stomach. Andre smiled as he stood to go answer the door. "Yes, someone's here to see you, Zacharie." He confirmed, brushing his hair back from his face and straightening out his shirt before pulling the door open. "Hello, Vincent." He greeted with a small smile, stepping back and motioning for the blonde to enter.

"Zacharie, this is Vincent. Vincent, this is Zacharie." He introduced, shutting the door behind the other as he came in. Zacharie and Aasim regarded the blonde with vague, wary disinterest before the toddler turned to plop his head back onto the Growlithe's stomach, mumbling to the pokemon from around his fingers. "He's a bit shy." Andre said with a slight laugh. "Thank you for coming, I really appreciate this." He said softly, reaching out to gently touch the others hand. "Let's see...he has lunch at noon and I try to get him to nap by one, you can try to get him to lay down in his cot but he'll give less of a fuss if you lay with him or just leave him with Aasim. I prepared lunch for him already, it's in the green bowl in the fridge...what else...?" He glanced around the room. "He likes grape juice and can have solid food as long as you watch him carefully while he eats it. There are some banana slices in the fridge..." He fretfully glanced around again. "You can call me if you're not sure about something but he's very well behaved."

Vincent chuckled at the shy, curly haired toddler. He listened to Andre, nodding as he looked around. He'd never met Zacharie before but... he couldn't be that difficult, could he? He was just a cute, tiny, innocent little Andre. Yeah... A thought struck Vincent and he grinned, wrapping an arm around Andre's shoulders in a hug.

"I got it, I'll call you if anything comes up, okay?" He let Andre go and looked over at Zacharie, "Us two can handle ourselves, right Zacharie? We'll be good!" Hoping that was reassuring enough, Vincent grinned at Andre again. "So, is that what you looked like as a baby? Man, you'll have to show me your baby pictures sometime, Andre!" If Andre's little brother was that adorable, Andre had to have been, too.

Andre looked anxiously around, wracking his mind for anything else that wouldn't be immediately obvious to the blonde. Zacharie, having turned his attention back to Vincent when he was addressed, pulled his fingers from his mouth, "Dead." The toddler said simply, reaching out to grab one of his abandoned blocks so he could chew on that instead. The older Dubois laughed lightly under his breath as he felt himself relax, as if reassured by the simple word. "He's got a rather interesting vocabulary, if you can get him to talk to you." He commented as he snatched up his keys and wallet from the counter.

"Thank you again for doing this for me." He said before pressing a kiss to the blonde's cheek. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Running a hand through his hair, Andre made his way over to the front door. "Behave Zacharie, I love you." The toddler looked up in what appeared to be alarm, tossing the block away and crawling over towards his brother. "Bo?" Andre looked pained but slipped through the door and shut the door behind him. Zacharie paused, stared at the door in disbelief, turned that look to Vincent, then promptly began wailing in protest.

Dead. Well, okay. Like brother like... brother, Vincent supposed. Hey, Zacharie was still cute! Maybe just a little more morbid than kids his age, but unique is good, right? Maybe Zacharie was even starting to warm up to him, showing off those fancy words he knew! ... Yeah. Vincent smiled at the kiss to his cheek, "Noooo problem, boss man. Me n' the little tyke'll hold the fort!" he said as Andre grabbed his things and left.

... And then the crying started. Unprovoked! "Shh, shhh! Don't cry, don't cry!" Vincent said quickly, hurrying over and scooping up little Zacharie and cradling him. Vincent patted his head, swaying from one foot to the other in an attempt at being comforting. "It'll be okay little guy! He'll only be gone for a bit! G-gah, come on, don't cry!" He coaxed, rubbing the kid's head lightly. ...It was comforting to small animals! Kids were like small animals, right?

Zacharie's cries grew in volume as he was swept up from the floor. More because it had startled him than anything else. Why did Andre leave him here with this stranger? Andre never went anywhere without him! The toddler's wailing continued until he felt a warm hand on his head. Between the petting and the gentle swaying, the fussy boy found that he really couldn't keep up his little tantrum.

"B-Bo?" He hiccuped, one little hand coming up to clutch at the blonde's shirt while the other went to rub the tears from his chubby cheeks.

Vincent felt relieved when Zacharie's crying quieted down; he kept up the swaying, slower, hoping it'd keep him calm. "Andre'll be back, don't worry. He's my friend, did you know that? My best friend! I know him reeeally well," Vincent said, moving towards the couch to sit down. Maybe he didn't know Andre the best, but, still... "And he promised he'll be back as soon as he can. So... how about a little snack? Andre said something about juice..." Vincent said, reaching up with one hand to help wipe Zacharie's wet cheeks.

Pulling back a bit, Zacharie studied the older man with a concentration that a child of his age shouldn't posses. He seemed to be mulling over what the other told him until he gave a small nod of his head and brought a hand up to lightly pap Vincent on the face. "Client." He mumbled, his grip on the others shirt tightening as they moved towards the couch.

He was about to make a fuss about that, he didn't want to sit down!, but the mention of juice completely derailed that plan. "Juice." He nodded his head adamantly as he pointed towards the kitchen. "Client, juice."

...Client? What? No way! "No, my name is Vincent. Vin-cent." Vincent said, still gently, but firm. No way was he going to go around being called Client! "You're Za-cha-rie, and I'm Vin-cent! See? Makes sense, right?" He said, not at all liking the feeling of being bossed around by a little kid. ... Maybe it had been an honest mistake. Vincent patted Zacharie's head a few more times, watching him carefully... the kid was a little unsettling, with that intense gaze of his; it was obvious he was related to Andre(appearances aside).

Zacharie stared blankly at the blonde for a few moments before papping his face again. "...Juice." He cared not for whatever the older man was trying to tell him, he wanted his juice! The toddler fidgeted and made an attempt at pushing away from Vincent, "Juuuuuice!" He whined before turning a rather pitiful pout towards the other. "Juice...Juice, pease?" He pleaded, making his bottom lip tremble for added effect.

... To argue or not to argue with a little kid, that was the question. Sighing, Vincent stood up, Zacharie in tow, and headed for the kitchen. Only because he said 'pease'. He'd make sure Zacharie got his name right. "Fine, fine, juice first, names later. You want grape juice? Vincent wants grape juice too," he said with a nod. His kind of grape juice was the... older, more refined kind. Of course. Vincent wondered if Andre even kept wine, or any alcohol for that matter, in the house; he decided he'd rather not get caught drinking on the job.

In the kitchen, Vincent sat Zacharie down on the floor and headed for the fridge. He found juice boxes inside- great! That meant no cups, thank god. "You want one of these?" Vincent asked, plopping down on the floor with his legs crossed, holding it out.

The toddler gave a smug smile that was eerily similar to Andre's as he was toted off to the kitchen. "Juice." He agreed as he was set down on the ground. He didn't stay seated for long though. With the help of a nearby drawer, he pulled himself to his feet and wobbled after the blonde. "Oomph!" Zacharie gave a startled huff as he bumped into Vincent's leg as the older man turned around. He clutched at his pant leg before falling back onto to butt, "Dead!" He complained, but stopped when the juice was held out to him. "Juice." He smiled as he reached for the little box.

Vincent laughed at the toddler when he fell back on his bum. "No, not dead. You aren't dead, kiddo!" he said, picking the straw off the box and taking it out of the plastic. "Can you put this in yourself?" he asked, crumpling the plastic and shoving it into his pocket(too much effort to get up and throw it away), then holding the straw up. Could toddlers work with something so small? ...Could they even understand what he was saying? Vincent had no idea, he wondered how Andre managed to raise one.

Zacharie stared at the little straw for a moment before pointing to the juicebox. "Juice?" He wasn't sure what, exactly, the blonde was saying but he knew he couldn't drink the juice without the straw. "Juice, pease?" He asked nicely, hoping that would get him what he wanted. Andre always put the little straw in for him since his aim wasn't always that good. "Client...juice, pease?"

Aasim took that moment to come into the kitchen, his fluffy tail gently swaying as he came to sit beside the toddler. He regarded the older human for a moment before curling around Zacharie for support as the toddler sat on the cool tile.

Vincent let out a quiet huff of laughter at the toddler's confusion and stabbed the straw in the juice box for him, handing it over. Kid was cute, and he'd mostly managed 'please'. He reached out to pat the boy on his head again, then paused, looking at the growlithe as it made itself comfortable around Zacharie. Vincent patted Aasim on the head, too.

"No clients here, kiddo. Vincent," he said again patiently, leaning back against the counter and stifling a yawn with his hand. "I am Vin-cent, bringer of juice, patter of heads, seller of cheap convenience store goods... babysitter of the century, maybe?" He kept talking, realizing this was getting a little advanced for a toddler, then an idea came to him. "Vinny! I'm Vinny. Can you say Vinny, Zacharie?" He asked, hoping juice would fuel that tiny brain and get him a step above 'client'.

Zacharie stared at the older man for a while, slurping his juice absently.

...He had no idea what this man was saying to him. There was talk of juice...but he already had his juice so what else was there to talk about? "Pah!" He released a wet breath as he pulled off of the straw and set his juice down next to him. "Binny." He let out laugh and clapped. "Nny, Nny!" The toddler rocked side to side, spotted his juice, gasped, and then picked it up so he could go back to sucking on the straw. "Juice."

Vincent watched the spectacle of Zacharie putting down, forgetting, then rediscovering his juice over the span of a few seconds. He laughed, trying to keep the volume down for the sake of the wee Dubois baby. A grin lingered on his face though; he'd succeeded and getting a name out of Zacharie! Binny, Nny, whatever he was called, Vincent would love and accept the new name. Maybe he'd impress Andre by striking up a beautiful friendship with Zacharie.

"So... Zacharie. Do ya' like... naps? Naps are fun. Or maybe food! Are you hungry? We've got bananas, a growlithe, and an oven, we can make it work!"

Zacharie didn't understand much of what Vincent was saying to him...but he did know what a nap was. "Dead." He grumbled around the straw as he leaned against the Growlithe at his side. He wasn't tired, not in the slightest, and Andre wasn't there to lay down with him. So no naps! "Nny, juice." He set the now empty juice box back on the ground and scooted it in the older man's direction before promptly crawling back to the living to play with his toys...or climb on the furniture.

He hadn't decided yet.

Maybe if he'd had a chance for a few hours of sleep, Vincent would be more equipped to handle a toddler... one that didn't seem at all ready for a nap. With a sigh, Vincent grabbed the empty juice box, chucked it in the general direction of the trash(it hit the fridge door), then heaved himself up to follow the toddler. Playtime, he could do that. Don't set anything on fire, don't let the kid get hurt, make sure he's entertained, easy!

Vincent caught a mischievous look in the kid's eyes and went to sit himself in front of the couch, arms crossed. "No climbin', got it?" He unfurled his arms and smiled, pretending he was guarding the couch from a tiny intruder.

Stumped and more than a little offended, Zacharie fixed the blond with a rather affronted look as he came to a stop just beside one of the larger man's knees. Chubby cheeks puffed out indignantly and sparse eyebrows furrowed before he figured, he may as well try anyway.

With this new determination in mind, the toddler crawled up into Vincent's lap and started tugging on his shirt to climb up his torso. This actually just made it easier to get up high; he didn't know why he didn't try this with Andre more often.

The fact Zacharie felt comfortable enough with him to clamber over him had Vincent grinning wider; he was excited to tell Andre about how 'shy' Zacharie had been. Letting Zacharie escape a few more inches, Vincent plucked him up by the sides and lifted him into the air, sticking out his tongue and blowing raspberries at him.

"Whatchu think you're doin', huh?" He asked, slowly getting up. An idea came to him and he lifted Zacharie over his head, sliding him onto his shoulders. "No climbin'! But this'll work! Where to, kid?"

With a squeal, Zacharie began kicking his legs and flailing his arms when he was lifted into the air. "Nny!" He wasn't sure if he should be angry that his plan had been ruined or if he should just enjoy being so high up...but the excitement won out and the toddler laughed as he took up two fistfuls of Vincent's hair.

"Bo!" He pointed down the short hallway where two of the three doors were shut. The open door led to Zacharie's room while the other two led to the bathroom and Andre's room. "Bo, Nny."