Inspired by Jessie (yes, as in the Disney show)
Marco sighed and brushed himself off as he stood up from where the taxi driver had unceremoniously dumped him on the side of the street after realizing Marco had no money.
Well, he made it farther than he'd thought would.
The revolving doors of the building he'd been discarded outside of spun as a blur of color—screaming something about demon children, of all things—came flying out the building and past Marco down the street.
A small child had followed the person out of the building and stood, just outside the door, waving cheerfully as he said, "Bye-bye, Ms. Nanny Lady!"
Unfortunately, since the lady had run off in Marco's direction, it put Marco directly in the kid's line of sight.
"Whoa!"
Marco cringed and stepped back, hoping to avoid a conversation with the kid, but the kid practically launched himself at Marco.
"Your head looks just like a pineapple! That's so cool!"
Marco's eye twitched, even as he felt a pang of sadness at the memory of a different, even more obnoxious, voice saying the same thing.
The child was babbling about something, but Marco wasn't really listening, lost in his own darker thoughts.
"Hey, hey! Do you want to be my new nanny?"
Marco's train of thought came to a screeching halt, and he stared at the kid incredulously. "What?!"
The kid was way more stubborn and persistent than he had any right to be. He just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
And so, Marco found himself standing in an excessively fancy elevator with an excessively energetic kid.
After practically an eternity (why did this building have so many blasted floors?), the elevator doors opened directly into the living room of a huge penthouse, and Marco felt his jaw drop.
The kid was loaded. Of course, the kid was loaded. Why had he thought otherwise?
Probably because of that tattered straw hat he was wearing and the general raggedness of his clothes.
But on the other hand, Marco should have known because just anyone could even afford to live in this building, let alone the top floor. And the kid apparently had a nanny (well, used to, since she just ran out). Only people with money could afford to have nannies.
So, yeah, Marco felt kind of stupid about being so surprised upon seeing the kid's home.
Speaking of the kid, he wasn't even trying to hide his giggling at Marco's stupefied expression. "You gotta come out of the elevator, silly, or else it's gonna close and then you can't come back 'cuz ya hafta have the key and I don't want you to never come back 'cuz I want you to stay here."
Marco shook himself out of his shocked state and complied even though he still wasn't so sure about this whole staying here thing. Particularly the part about being a nanny. Or, really, this whole situation in general.
This whole thing seemed off to him. Some little rich brat had just invited him in off the streets and even offered him a job (which Marco was sure he was way too young to be offering in the first place; kids weren't typically employers) for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
But then again, he thought, looking at the kid who was beaming up at him, he probably shouldn't be so suspicious of a seven-year-old.
"Luffy!"
Marco jerked back in surprise. He'd thought they were alone.
Looking over the railing of the second floor were two other boys who looked to be a bit older than the kid (who was apparently named Luffy).
One of them had dark hair and looked a lot like Luffy, except for the freckles. He was glaring down at them—mostly Marco. The other had curly blond hair and seemed less openly hostile, looking at Marco with curiosity more than anything.
"How many times have we told you not to run off by yourself?!" the freckled one was yelling at the kid—Luffy, Marco reminded himself; he couldn't keep referring to him as 'kid' when there were now three.
"I was saying bye to Ms. Nanny Lady," Luffy explained, clearly not seeing the problem.
"Luffy, who's that?" the blond cut in before the freckled kid could start yelling again.
"Our new nanny!" he exclaimed cheerfully, clearly unaffected by the glare (Marco was pretty sure it had increased in intensity, if that was even possible) being leveled at them.
"A guy can't be a nanny," Freckles snapped (and Marco secretly agreed, wondering why he was even here in the first place).
"Why not?"
"Because they just can't!" Apparently seeing that he wasn't getting anywhere trying to argue this point, Freckles decided to change strategies. "And what have we told you about picking up random strangers off the street?!"
Luffy pouted. "But he's not a stranger."
Marco had to raise an eyebrow at that. He certainly didn't know the kid. And he highly doubted Luffy actually knew who he was.
Apparently, the other two thought the same thing because their eyebrows were also raised.
"Do you even know his name, Luffy?" Blondie asked.
Marco was surprised when the kid nodded.
Until he heard Luffy's answer. "He's Pineapple Head!"
Both older kids groaned as they face-palmed while Marco tried to squash his annoyance, reminding himself that he really shouldn't have expected anything else.
"I don't think that's his name, Lu" the blond kid said, exasperation clear in his tone.
"See? You don't even know his name," Freckles pointed out. "He can't be our nanny."
Marco wasn't sure that logic was quite right, but he wasn't going to say anything. If it kept him from being forced into being this kid's nanny, he certainly wasn't going to argue against it.
Unfortunately, Luffy wasn't ready to give up (why was this kid so freakin' stubborn?). He crossed his arms and scowled up at the other two. "But I want him to be our new nanny."
Marco sighed. This wasn't going anywhere.
He had to give credit to the other two, though. They didn't give up easily.
"But you don't even know him!" Freckles repeated.
Blondie nodded, taking up the reigns. "Yeah, Lu. We don't if we can trust him. He could be dangerous."
Luffy frowned at them before turning to look at Marco. "Are you going to hurt me?"
"No," Marco answered honestly, and Luffy beamed up at his brothers, triumphant.
"But," Marco continued, because the kid's brothers (he assumed that's what they were) were right, and he needed to make sure Luffy knew this so he didn't get himself hurt, "there are plenty of people that would, so you need to be careful. You can't just invite random people you don't know to your house. It's dangerous."
Luffy deflated slightly, not looking so triumphant anymore. "Okay…" he mumbled.
The older two were staring down at Marco with wide eyes.
"He actually listened to you?" the freckled one said like he didn't believe it.
"Huh," the blond one said thoughtfully, "I guess you can stay. For now, at least."
Freckles nodded reluctantly. "At least until the old geezer comes home. He's the one who gets to decide if you actually get a job or not."
Marco was about to decline and tell them he didn't actually want the job in the first place when the kid cheered and then attached himself to Marco's leg.
Marco sighed again, suddenly feeling too tired to even try to pry the kid off his leg.
Well, it wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go.
And at least this way he'd actually have a place to stay.
So apparently he was going to be a nanny. At least for now.