Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this chapter or story!
Anonymous reviews enabled!
Botched Babysitting
*EDIT* I re-posted this because it was all smushed at the end for some reason. o_O;
Roger looked at the papers that held the monthly budget report. As usual Matt had only used his monthly allowance to buy games and no more so he still had a little left. Near had almost all left minus a few pounds he had spent on toys. Mello literally used all of his but no extra on chocolate. L on the other hand… L had overspent by quite a few pounds on sweets. Most of them he didn't even eat! Roger frowned then knew what had to be done.
He left his office and went to L's room then knocked. "You may enter" he heard L say through the door.
Roger opened the door and saw L was at his desk typing on his computer. "L" Roger began "I've realized that for four months in a row you have gone over your monthly allowance by spending it on sweets. I have decided that from now on if you want to buy something over your budget you have to pay for it yourself."
"Pay for it myself?" L repeated with a thumb to his lower lip and an uncomprehending look in his eyes.
"Yes. If you want any extra sweets you need to get a job to pay for them." Roger firmly glared at L who now looked slightly more confused.
"But I am the World's Three Greatest Detectives. I have a job" his slim eyebrows furrowed a tiny bit.
"Yes but while you're at this orphanage and Watari is out I'm in charge of you and refuse to let you keep spending recklessly. You need to learn responsibility." Roger then turned around and headed out the door before L could protest.
He wants me to… get a job? L asked himself as he turned to face his computer. Hmm… how do people get jobs anyway? L opened a web browser and typed in 'how to get a job' and millions of hits came up with advice on finding 'dream jobs' and advertising smaller job sites. L narrowed the list down to 'how to get a job in Winchester, England'. The search had greatly narrowed and that there were sites with jobs just in that area. He clicked one and saw a list of offers. Store manager… hmm… it pays well but sounds boring. He scrolled further. Babysitter! I don't want to watch someone else's kids but I happen to have a few handy who will do anything I want. All I need to do is ask Roger to pay me so he can take a break.
L got up from his crouch then went to Roger's office and knocked on the door. "Come in" he heard Roger say. "Have you picked a job?" he asked as he closed one of his Entomology books.
L crouched in front of his desk. "I have. I want to be a babysitter."
Roger eyed him incredulously "L there are many hard things about watching another person's-"
"I wish to babysit my successors for you" L cut him off and Roger blinked. "If I take them off of your hands and you pay me for it would be a good arrangement."
"You… want to watch you successors?" Roger sounded incredulous.
"Yes" L said simply and wished he had a lollipop handy.
"Well… alright then! You can start now. Goodbye" Roger said as he excitedly got up and shoved L out of his office then closed the door.
"Humph" L huffed then went to the common room. Once he arrived he saw Matt playing a video game, Mello eating chocolate while glaring at Near, and Near ignoring Mello and building a replica of the Sphinx out of dice. L cleared his throat catching their attention. "Roger has put me in charge of you all" L said then crouched down nearby to watch them.
"Hey L wanna watch me play my game?" Matt asked while still staring at the screen. Not really L thought then joined him anyway.
After a few moments Mello called "hey L can you tell Near to stop being so creepy?"
"Near isn't being creepy" L said not turning to face Mello. Big mistake.
"YES HE IS! Matt isn't Near being creepy?" Mello said starting to get angry.
"Yeah sure" Matt agreed offhandedly not looking away from the screen.
Simultaneously Near said "really Mello there is no need to shout. We can all hear you clearly."
Mello charged Near and kicked down his replica and L was forced to restrain him."Let me go!" Mello snarled as he struggled in L's grasp.
"Hey L when is lunch? Because I think we missed it" Matt said and L looked up to the clock to see they had indeed missed lunch. L sighed.
"Alright we're going to the kitchen" he said and hefted a still-struggling Mello to the kitchen with Near and Matt in tow. Once he got there he realized he had a problem: the cooks had left and he had no idea how to cook. He opened the refrigerator and took out some wrapped leftovers and placed them in the microwave.
"NO!" all three successors shouted as the microwave began internally sparking. L quickly opened it and took out the foiled item. He growled and took out the cold chicken inside and placed some on each successor's plate.
"Ew I'm not eating that!" Matt said as Near wrinkled his nose and Mello made a gagging noise. L sighed and made them each a bowl of cereal. After that was done they went back to the common room and resumed their former tasks. A few minutes later Matt had gotten mad that he had forgotten to save and was complaining loudly to himself while Near was trying to rebuild his monument only to be foiled repeatedly by Mello. Finally L snapped and stormed to Roger's office and barged in uninvited.
"I've decided to become a shop manager. They're all yours again" he huffed then stormed back to his room to print out an application.
This was my entry to a contest on Deviantart which is why it is EXACTLY 1,000 words. I had to trim it down a lot from what I wanted. I do NOT plan to make this a multi-chaptered fic sorry if anyone is disappointed.