(no subject)

[cisskabob]

[AND THEN ONE DAY LIMBO HAD A FISSURE THAT TURNED TIM AND CISSIE INTO TINY THINGS. Because of reasons. And they were pretty well behaved. Until bedtime.]

Comments

[bitnotgood]

[Just because they were well behaved didn't mean that John wasn't quietly freaking out about being responsible for tiny human beings. Surprisingly enough most of the day was not a disaster -- even the spaghetti supper that John had been expecting to scrub off the walls had gone fine. Of course as soon as it was time to wind down for the night the kids stopped being manageable and started bouncing off the damn walls.]

Alright, time for pyjamas!

[Assuming they'd stop running around the flat long enough to listen to him.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim was happy. It had been a good day, and they'd watched movies and had naps, and spaghetti for dinner, and Daddy Kent had given then candy for dessert. He and Cissie were playing a complicated game of hide and seek and tag, and he didn't want to stop when John called for pajamas. He paused, though, looking back at him with wide eyes.] But we're playing tag!

[cisskabob]

[Cissie's head popped up from behind one end of the couch, alarmed. She darted out from her "hiding place" and tapped Tim on the shoulder before racing to John's side and ducking behind him. She looked up at him, wearing a sad, beseeching look.] We're not tired yet! Do we haaaaave to?

[videointhenoise]

[Kent was not happy. There was too much noise, too much excitement and, while he loved the children dearly, he wasn't going to let them get away with it. In his best dad voice, he leaned back against the wall.]

Your dad asked you to get your pajamas on. [He didn't have to see the sad looks in order to know that they were there.]

[bitnotgood]

[Thank god for Kent. It was nice having backup, especially because he wasn't sure he could have said no to the looks they were giving him if he was on his own.] It's time to calm down -- you can play tag tomorrow.

[He gently spun Cissie around and nudged her on towards the bathroom.] Brush your teeth, wash your face, and I'll find your pyjamas. Go on. [He pointed to Tim.] You too.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim sighed dramatically and turned in the direction of the bathroom, dragging his toes along the carpet with each step. He gave Cissie a sidelong look, then grinned and tagged her lightly on the shoulder before running to the bathroom.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie's shoulders dropped when Kent used that tone, and she let John turn her around. She dragged her feet, moving toward the bathroom with an impressive sulk, until Tim tagged her. Then she gasped and looked at him in surprise before tearing after him into the bathroom.] Hey! No fair!

[videointhenoise]

Sure...leave me with the hard job. [Not that he minded John finding the pajamas. But Kent sighed and trailed after the two of them, wandering into the bathroom behind them. He had heard them running and wanted to make sure they did it right.] Guys, I want to hear water running and teeth brushing.

Hum the ABC song twice and then you can be done.

[bitnotgood]

Uh huh. You've supervised before -- small children have the social skills of most scientists anyway.

[He left Kent to the task of herding the kids, heading into Tim and Cissie's bedroom in search of pyjamas. He hoped their wardrobe changed as well, else the kids were going to be sleeping in their old t-shirts. Fortunately luck was on his side and the clothes in the bureau had been changed as well....meaning lots of bright colours and cartoon animals.

He picked out a set for Tim and a set for Cissie, then started tidying up the flat while he had three seconds to breathe.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim giggled when Cissie chased him into the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush, squeezing a little bit of toothpaste onto it, then shoving it into his mouth and starting to hum. He paused and took it out of his mouth again.]

The ABC song is the same as Twinkle Twinkle when you don't have the words. Did you know that?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie stood on her tiptoes, straining to reach her toothbrush. Her fingertips brushed the handle and she grabbed it, waiting for Tim to give her the toothpaste. She looked over at him in surprise when he spoke.] No, it's not! ...Is it?

[She frowned, thinking, and started humming to herself, forgetting to start brushing her teeth.]

[videointhenoise]

[Oh this was a headache. Kent rubbed at his temples.]

Finish, please. [He took a step back.] John can check you.

[bitnotgood]

[He finished rearranging the cushions on the sofa and poked his head into the bathroom when he heard humming.] What's going on in here? Cissie, brush your teeth. Tim, rinse and spit. Let's go.

[Like herding cats.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim held up his finger, smiling around his toothbrush. It had only been a minute--you were supposed to brush your teeth for two, or you'd get cavities. He'd seen pictures.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie heaved a heavy sigh and stuck her toothbrush in her mouth, humming both her ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle--just to see if they were the same. They seemed to be. It was maybe hard to tell because of how quickly she was humming, though. Two minutes, Tim? That's forever!

Cissie spit and rinsed her mouth out before Tim was finished.]

Done!

[videointhenoise]

[Kent stepped out of the bathroom, letting John get that part ready.] Alright, Tim...go get your pajamas on. Cissie, brush your hair. [He could only imagine that it was a tangled mess.]

[bitnotgood]

[Tim got a raised eyebrow for that.] Oi, you cheeky thing -- [He sighed and stepped into the bathroom, opening up the cabinet and looking for a hairbrush.] Let me see, Cissie. Nice and clean?

[He stuck his face in close and gently bopped her on the nose with his finger.] Here's the hairbrush.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim gave him an innocent look and finished brushing his teeth. He rinsed his toothbrush and his mouth and gave John a quick grin before dashing off to get changed.] Be right back!

[cisskabob]

[Cissie giggled when John bopped her nose, but then took the hairbrush from him and looked up at him mournfully.] I can't brush it all by myself! It's too long and I can't see and the tangles hurt!

[videointhenoise]

[Kent left John with Cissie and followed after Tim.] When you get dressed, you can pick out a book to read. [God, he hoped there were books around here that Tim would understand...or he was going to go get his A Brief History of Time.]

[bitnotgood]

[Well...he'd operated on people in the middle of air strike...how hard could brushing a little girl's hair be? You know. Comparatively.] Oh, no, it's okay. I'll do it. Come on, then, no frowning.

[He picked her up and brought her into the living room, setting her down on the floor and taking a seat behind her on the couch. He held out his hand.] Hairbrush, please.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim tugged the Superman t-shirt (that went with the Superman pajama bottoms) over his head and looked at his book case, trying to find the arm holes in the shirt.

He walked toward it, finding the right arm, and then the left arm and finally pushing his limbs through so that he could use them.]

Robin Hood?

[Cissie liked that one.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie's frown disappeared almost instantly when he scooped her up, and she happily accepted the ride to the living room, giving him a tight squeeze before he set her down. She settled obediently on the floor in front of him, sitting up nice and straight and tall, just the way she knew she was supposed to.]

Can we have desert before we go to bed?

[Nevermind that they'd already had candy, or that they'd just brushed their teeth. PRIORITIES.]

[videointhenoise]

Robin Hood it is. Go get it. [He heard Cissie's question in the living room and paused. He couldn't resist calling out:] You had candy already, Cissie. [He knew because he had given it. It had, at one point, been his. Ah, the sacrifices that they made.

That taken care of, he returned his attention to Tim and found his bed, sitting on the end of it.] Come on, son.

[bitnotgood]

[John's brow was furrowed and his tongue was sticking out of his mouth as he carefully - oh-so-carefully - began to brush Cissie's long hair. It was an intense operation.

Though he did pause to chuckle when he heard Kent's reply from the bedroom.]

You just brushed your teeth too. No, no dessert tonight. [Yikes, there was a tangle. And another. And another. He slowly began to pick at them, trying not to tug on her head.] Though maybe...dessert tomorrow. Something fancy, like a cake. How's that?

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim grabbed the book and took a running jump into bed, landing and bouncing a couple of times before settling. He settled and looked back at Kent.]

Can I cut Cissie's hair?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie sighed, but perked up quickly at John's suggestion.] I like cake! Can it be chocolate?

[She didn't seem too bothered by the tangles, until he hit a particularly stubborn one and she winced, pulling away.] Ow!

[videointhenoise]

Cut her hair? [He tried not to show too much confusion.] No, you can't cut it. I think she likes it the way it is.

[bitnotgood]

Oh! Sorry, Cissie, sorry! [He stopped brushing her hair and bent down to kiss her head, panicking slightly that he'd really hurt her.] Sorry, I'm awful at this, are you okay?

[mrsarcastic003]

But it's long. And it takes forever to comb.

[And Tim was maybe getting impatient for a bedtime story.]

[cisskabob]

[Cissie gave a little sniffle and turned, climbing onto John's lap for a hug. She wasn't crying or even teary though, since it had surprised her more than hurt her, but she still was a little clingy.] I'm okay. It just hurt a little. But can we be done now? My hair's okay...

[videointhenoise]

[Kent laughed. Well, that's where it was all coming from. He reached out an arm, wrapping it around Tim's shoulders.] It is long, but she likes it. So we have to be patient. Tell me something you learned today.

[bitnotgood]

[John set down the hairbrush and wrapped his arms around her, sighing as he inspected her hair. Still full of tangles.] It's going to get worse if you sleep on it. Let me braid it and we'll call it done for the night.

[He thought he could braid it. He had vague memories of a girlfriend teaching him how to braid hair, but they were both drunk and...actually, it might have just been a scene from a film. But how hard could it be, really.]

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim leaned into Kent's side, sighing a little. He could be patient. He was good at patient. Sometimes.]

I learned that Pluto isn't a planet anymore. How does that happen? How did it become not a planet? Did it break?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie stifled a yawn and nodded against John's shoulder. She did her best not to pout, even though she kind of wanted to.] Okay... Do you know how?

[videointhenoise]

[Kent laughed.] No. [It was a little beyond his time, but he had talked to a few people and knew what had happened.] They just thought that Pluto was more of a dwarf planet. There is a belt of asteroids, you know...like the ones between Jupiter and Mars...out at the end of the solar system. And Pluto is just one of those.

[bitnotgood]

Of course I do. [Lies, he was going to blunder his way through this, but Cissie didn't need to know that. He sat her back down on the floor and carefully split her hair up, braiding it in a ham-fisted, first time dad kind of way.] There you go, all done.

[mrsarcastic003]

[Tim considered that thoughtfully, frowning a little.]

It must be a pretty big asteroid if we thought it was a planet. Does it have gravity? Could people walk on it?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie turned and beamed up at John, standing and tossing her arms around him in a big hug.] Thank you! I can put my pajamas on now. And can we have stories?

[videointhenoise]

All objects have gravity. The bigger the object, the more gravity that it has. As for walking on it...well, probably. But not very well. It's smaller than our moon and it was hard for people to walk on that. [He turned his head towards the door.]

I think they're finished.

[bitnotgood]

[John wrapped his arms around her, just glad the whole debacle was over for the moment.] Yes, we can have stories. In fact, I think Tim and Dad were picking something out for us. [He let go and stood up, hairbrush and hairties clasped in one hand.] Now go get your pyjamas on.

[mrsarcastic003]

Good! [Tim fidgeted in place, turning the book between his hands while he considered hat Kent had said about gravity.]

Do I have gravity?

[cisskabob]

[Cissie beamed up at him, and raced off to change, like he wanted her to. She returned quickly, skipping her way after John to the bedroom.]

[videointhenoise]

Of course. We make a dent in spacetime, too. It's just not a big one. So we can't have other things orbit us. [He straightened up.] I think I hear Dad and Cissie feet. Quick...act like we were reading. [He whispered that with a smile.]