"Okay, why the hell does almost everyone have some ridiculous nickname?" Rorke asked and pointed at some little boy who was wearing a shirt with 'Roach' written on it in big, bold letters. He was chewing his foot and Rorke slightly grimaced, but decided that because he was still a child from maybe only two years old that it was acceptable. Maybe.
"Just shut up, Gabe. Before you know it, we also get nicknames like they do," Elias rolled his eyes at his friend's complaint and looked the direction of where three other employees were playing with a three year old. His name was Derek, but most called him Frost because though he was so young, he could already handle cold much better than most adults.
It was their first week on the job they had taken for the sole purpose of not spending their summer away from each other, but he knew who the three were; Sandman, Grinch and Truck. He had seen them at school, so knew who they were by face, but didn't know what their real names are and - just like the children - they got nicknames. The story behind the nicknames was a mystery, but Rorke would ask about that another time.
Gabriel was about to say something back to Elias as someone suddenly clapped in his hands. Both groaned; they were fearing that their boss hadn't forgotten it a
nd sadly he didn't. It was time for nap time, the most dreaded moment of the day for every employee. Even Sandman didn't like it while he's the lucky one who can put an adorable sweetheart like Frost to bed. The entire place would end up in a mess and making a single sound could result in all the children waking up again.
What was even worse was that not all children were so young; a few were around the age of six and nap time was mostly meant for children younger than four, their boss had decided. Gabriel could remember what Price had told him and Elias the day they got their jobs, beside 'if I catch you two making out in the play castle, I'm not here to save you from Toad and Archer' referring to the two five year olds who enjoyed playing with guns maybe a bit too much to the point they'd actually find something to shoot at you. Elias knew that, having been hit by Archer one time too many.
"Time to sleep!" Price shouted over the playground while holding the three year old Soap who was pulling on Price's beard. Price's trademark beanie was also gone, stolen by another three year old who most know as Ghost. He had pulled the beanie over his head and scared Roach with it, shouting 'you can't see me! You know why? Because I am Ghost!' and though it sounded stupid, it was kinda cute until Roach started crying and Grinch needed to take care of him.
Just when Grinch picked up Roach, a plastic bullet hit his head. There was no questioning who it was as the guilty child was heard shouting excitedly 'I hit the big man' throughout the place. Grinch groaned and muttered something that sounded as 'fucking children' before he remembered he was holding a parrot in human form.
"Fucking?" Roach attempted to say, but it was more incoherent. You could still make out the words and that made Grinch almost drop Roach out of panic. Truck - who was dragged into a game of football with Gideon and Ilona - laughed at his friend panicking as he passed the ball to Gideon.
Grinch looked around for the help of the father from the three friends who was better known as Sandman, but he saw he was too busy with Frost. With the child in his lap and a blanket on top of both, Sandman had tried to make Frost fall asleep, but instead he fell asleep himself with an awake child in his arms. If Grnch only came near the two of them, Sandman would wake up and tackle him for interrupting his time together with a 'little ball of sunshine and ice' and he still had some bruises from the last time that had happened.
Grinch looked back at the child in his arms and held one finger against his tiny lips. "Don't say that again. Bad word," he said in his best parent-like voice, but he couldn't. If anyone's the father, it's Sandman and the only one who's close to caring about children like a mother was Truck. He adored little children and as oldest child also had the chance to take care of his two younger sisters.
Truck was also busy playing sports with Gideon and Ilona - though that quickly escalated to Gideon getting chased down by Ilona, the girl wanting to hit the Brit. He couldn't seek help by mother Truck and so the American was left with only one option.
"No, that's mi amigo!" James Ramirez said as he protectively hugged his best friend, Dunn. He lived in a household where Spanish was the most spoken language and at the age of just three, he was already talking Spanglish. That worried Merrick to death, not understanding Spanish at all. It made him regret choosing French too, especially after realizing that there are more people who speak Spanish rather than French.
Keegan - the child James shouted at as the only thing the children could do was shout - pouted as he went back to hugging Merrick's leg. "'Homas?" He looked up at the much taller and much older male. Merrick thought it was adorable how Keegan couldn't say the letter T and so struggled saying his first name every time.
Merrick didn't let Keegan say anything else as he kneeled down far enough that he could climb on his back which Keegan gladly did. Instantly he started pulling on Merrick's hair, but not hard enough for it to actually hurt. It made him actually laugh. The cuteness of Keegan's looks and the cuteness of Keegan's personalty was a deadly mix.
A plastic bullet to the back of his back snapped Merrick back to reality. He turned around annoyed to find the source of the plastic sitting behind the dollhouse— or should he say sources. Toad seemed to be testing out a new gun he had found as Merrick didn't recognize the one he was holding and on the looks of it, he was the unlucky one. He wanted to congratulate Toad for hitting him because the boy was blind in one eye which lessened his eyesight already, but his position didn't make it any easier. Archer's - who was sitting next to him - sight wasn't good either, but for another reason; he couldn't see many colors so his eyesight consisted mostly out of black and white along with some green, purple and magenta.
He'd really congratulate Toad if he wasn't the one who got hit. He wanted to say something about how they need to stop shooting at people, but they ran away as soon as they realized they were seen by Merrick. Keegan, James and Dunn all silently laughed at Merrick wincing as the pain became worse. He shot the three children a glare that wouldn't frighten an adult, but it did frighten the three as James continued hugging Dunn tightly in silence and Keegan started playing with Merrick's hair again.
Joker, Jack Mitchell, Ajax and Kick were playing with Elias' dog, Riley. Elias knows he could keep him home and knows that Price doesn't allow pets inside the daycare, but an exception was made for Riley; all the children adored him and secretly the employees did too. Almost all the children though, Soap hates dogs, much to the dismay of his friend Ghost who was in love with dogs and was often seen carrying around a stuffed animal in the shape of a dog. That only made Soap scream every time, no one wanted to imagine Soap being close to Riley.
Mitchell and Ajax were patting the dog while the other two were fighting about who was going to throw a ball. Kick had the upperhand over the fight, but was visibly tired while Joker was still full with energy, trying to wiggle away from underneath Kick. He was failing, Kick being larger than Joker in every aspect; from height to weight. He admitted his defeat as he gave Kick the ball.
The little boy jumped up excitedly and started doing something that was supposed to look like a dance. Joker sat there with his arms crossed as he watched the other throw the ball for Riley to go grab, the dog almost pulling the two children who were petting and hugging him along. Joker was still sad because he couldn't play with Riley, but Mitchell falling flat on his face and Ajax falling back on his butt was too funny to not laugh about. Kick laughed along with him when he saw what was happening.
Price was watching this all happen from a distance, sitting in a chair. He watched Elias and Rorke sneaking away, Sandman falling asleep with a wide awake Frost in his lap, Grinch panicking for a reason he didn't know, Toad and Archer going around shooting people. The cute scene going on between James and Dunn while Merrick is playing with Keegan. Truck teaching Gideon and Ilona how to play football and then the dog. He had forgotten about naptime, as if anyone could sleep in this mess, but there were two children missing; Ghost and Soap.
At that exact moment, a plastic bullet hit the back of his head that wasn't covered by his beanie. That reminded him that Ghost still has it, but he turned to the direction of where the plastic bullet comes from to see Archer looking through the window of the play castle with his small gun pointed at the boss. "Prisoner six-two-seven!" Archer shouted. Price stood up from his chair with a sigh before entering the play castle that wasn't far away from where he was originally seated.
He wasn't surprised to see Soap sitting on the throne and Ghost on a smaller throne, but what mostly surprised him was Grinch on one knee in front of Soap.
"Kneel down, prisoner six-two-seven," Soap spoke and though Price was confused, but he did as he was told to and kneeled down next to Grinch in the same positition. Soap looked at Ghost for a second, but the Brit was busy playfighting with Roach who was sitting on the floor next to him.
"This man has to tell you something," Soap said and gestured at Grinch who was looking down at the floor, not daring to make eye contact with Price as he opened his mouth to admit what he had done.
"I-uh… I may have taught Roach how to swear," Grinch nearly whispered, but Price couldn't hear it. Apparently neither could Archer nor Toad as he was hit by two plastic bullets from both sides, both hitting his ribs. He hissed in pain as he repeated himself. "I taught Roach how to swear."
Price was quiet for a few seconds and so were the children as Grinch waited for Price to tell Toad to shoot him again, but instead the man laughed. "That's what you were panicking about? Pathetic, kid. He has heard me swearing already."
With that, Price left, leaving a shocked Grinch alone with four children who all were laughing.