Ah ha, I'm still alive folks, don't worry. I'm just bogged down with so much homework, I can't update as quick as I'd like to. That and I'm having a major writers block along with a passing phase of not caring about my story's. It's a passing phase don't worry.
Now someone (Donna nnov) said that she would like to see this particular pairing and I thought, why not? Someone might as well be happy if I'm not. And this is actually where most of my brain power was been going to, thinking of this. So I hope you all appreciated (Read: review) it.
Before you read I want you all to remember that TJ is a ten year old boy, and ten year old boys are odd creatures who don't exactly show affection in the smartest of ways. They usually take on of three paths; hitting, ignoring, or actually being nice (Which is rare). So with that in your minds…..
Read on.
TJ was having a very bad day, for a variety of reasons. But because he didn't want today to be any more frustrating than it already was, he shortened then down to about two. The first involved having to go to the dodge ball wall after he had refused King Bob's orders to retrieve his baseball cards after Ms. Finster confiscated them. He had told King Bob, rather loudly gaining the attention of the entire playground, that he had better things to do than get some cards back for some guy whose guards could probably do it themselves. Along with saying it loudly, he was pointing his finger at the King, and the whole act was taken as talking back disrespectfully and like in any monarchy, he was punished for his defiance.
The second reason for his bad day was that his parents were going out for the night and wouldn't be back until 10:30, and since his sister was out on a school trip to New York, he was going to get a babysitter. He tried convincing his mother that he didn't need one, and that he could take care of himself for a few hours. But then his mother reminded him of the incident that happened the last time they trusted him alone in the house for an evening. Said incident involved two broken windows, a room that needed new carpet, and the horror of coming home to red all over the walls with knives on the floor, only to find that it was only ketchup, and he just made a mess in the kitchen. After being reminded of that, he knew there wasn't going to be a way out of this.
So he waited in the kitchen while his parents were getting ready to leave. He was hoping that he would get a fun babysitter like in the cartoons and movies. But he knew that chance was slim because those were just fictional accounts to make it seem as if babysitters were actually fun in the attempt to ease kids fear about something they should be very afraid of.. Instead of one of those, he'd probably get some old lady who never had children and lashed out on kids through a massive amount of chores, hard rules, and corporal punishment for not following those rules.
His questions were about to be answered, because at exactly 4:30 the doorbell rang. He didn't get up until his mother called him to come meet the person who was going to be watching him. Walking towards the front door, his day promised to get worse when he saw King Bob, crownless standing in the doorway.
"What is he doing here?" TJ asked him mother.
"He's going to watch you tonight," His mother told him.
"But he's almost my age!"
"From what his parents have told me, Robert is very responsible."
"But mom—"
"No buts, TJ! He's going to watch you tonight and that's that." Folding his arms, he leaned against the wall listening to his mother tell his babysitter what she felt he needed to know. After a few minutes his parents said their goodbyes and left the two boys. Sending a glare King Bob's way, he turned around and headed back into the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" King Bob asked him as he walked away.
"To my tree house," TJ told him. "I don't wanna be near you."
"Hold on," He said, following the fourth grader to the backyard. "Your mom said you were supposed to be doing homework!"
"Yeah right," Said TJ. "I'm not listening to you." He climbed up the tree and went into his tree house, locking the door. Opening a chest in the corner, he took out a comic book and started to read, waiting for King Bob to go back in the house. Taking solace in today being Friday, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least he would be able to hang out with his friends for the next two days.
But at the moment he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the lock to the door being fumbled with.
"You're not getting in!" He yelled. His words proved wrong, because after a few more seconds, the door was opened and King Bob climbed in.
"So this is it, huh?" King Bob said looking around. "I gotta say, I expected better."
"How are you my babysitter?" TJ snapped at him.
"My mom ran into your mom and the super market and I was there with her," The King explained. "Honestly I didn't want to do this either, but you've been acting rather defiant towards me lately and I want to know why."
"I don't want to be under your thumb like everyone else," He said. "I don't need to listen to you. It's not the law!"
"It is on the playground."
"So? We're only out there for an hour!"
"Well that wasn't a problem a week ago. Why is it now?"
"I'd rather be doing homework than this," Putting down his comic book he opened the door and climbed out, headed back into the house and leaving King Bob by himself to wonder what exactly was his problem. The crazy monkey-boy had never shown this much insolence towards him, unless he had a fair reason, like making the whole playground build a pyramid or something. But he was quite sure he hadn't done anything to provoke this sort of reaction this time around. He hadn't made a new law or spoke to the students in a while, so he knew he wasn't the problem.
Maybe he was just going through a rebellious phase and in another week the monkey-boy would be his old self again. No, that couldn't be. The guy WAS the rebellious phase.
Not having enough information, he went inside the house badger the fourth grader some more. Inside he found TJ at the kitchen table actually doing homework. But from what he could see, he was having some trouble.
"What do you want?" TJ asked him not looking up from his work.
"Having trouble? You know I've been through the fourth grade already. I could probably help."
"I don't need it." He said erasing the numbers on his paper.
"Are you sure?"
"Fine! Can you please help me?" For the next half hour, King Bob helped him with his math homework, which only involved turning improper fractions into mixed fractions and vice versa. Now that he was in the sixth grade, it seemed like a painfully easy task for King Bob. However when he had shared his thoughts about how he couldn't believe TJ was having so much trouble with it, the hostility, which had started to lessen, came back. He quickly apologized and the work was finished. Ten minutes before they finished, a frozen pizza was placed in the oven. Now they were waiting for twenty more minutes to pass until it was ready to eat.
Meanwhile, King Bob was noting how much nicer TJ was being towards I'm after he helped him. It seemed odd; did he feel like he wasn't helping him much on the playground or something like that? It confused him, but for now he didn't say anything, because he knew that the night would go a hell of a lot faster if he wasn't getting death glares from the kid who was basically second in command to him. So they sat in the living room, searching for something decent to watch on TV.
For TJ, the day was actually better than he thought it would be. He got his homework done in half the time, and that left more time to relax and forget about learning for the rest of the night. He still didn't want King Bob as a babysitter, but considering that having anyone else meant ANYONE else, he'd rather have him here. But that didn't change the fact that he did not want to take orders from him. He was King on the playground, not his house. Hell, he was only two years older than him! He was more fitted to be his older brother than babysitter. Then again, older siblings sometimes watch the younger kids….
When his friends had asked about him talking back to King Bob the way he did, he asked them how they could stand being bossed around by him all the time. They had said that he didn't really boss them around, just mostly make laws. Sure, he occasionally made the entire student body do something completely crazy, but those times were few and far between. That was when he told his friends that King Bob wasn't his King in front of them, denouncing his name. They of course asked him why he would do such a thing. After all, King Bob had called him his most loyal subject. He said that dogs are loyal and that he wasn't some lap dog of his. Before his friends could say anything else, the bell signaling the end of recess rang, and they headed back inside for class.
"Pizza's ready!" He was brought out of his thought by King Bob calling him into the kitchen.
The two of them sat at the table in silence eating their piece of pizza. It was now 6:11, and the two of them were both wondering how the time flied by so fast.
"So what's bothering you?" King Bob asked him.
"What do you mean?"
"You've been acting really defiant towards me lately, and that's not like you at all."
"I don't," He paused and stared at his plate. "I don't want to be bossed around by you anymore."
"I didn't think I was," Said King Bob.
"Well you were!"
"Is that why you've been acting like this? Is it really?" Before he answered, TJ looked up at him, wonder who exactly King Bob thought he was. Sure, he was king of the playground, and to the average kid that was impressive. But for the next few hours he was nothing but a babysitter, and all he had to do was make sure he didn't get in trouble. This entire conversation was pointless in his mind.
"Yeah, it is," He answered. After putting his plate in the sink, he walked out the kitchen, towards the stairs. "I'm going to my room."
Taking advantage of his time alone, King Bob took the rest of his pizza and ate in the living room, playing what just happened in his head. That look that he had sent him; the look in his eyes King Bob knew that look. After a while of being King, he learned how to read people's emotions and what they really meant behind their words just by the look on their face and eyes. And he had seen that look once before.
It was two months ago, and Mary, his fanning girl, had given him that same look. A few days later she had asked him out on a date. He had politely said no; she was a cute girl and all, but just not his type. And now, Detweiller gave him that same look. Then it was like a light bulb turned on in his head.
"Oh I get it now," He said to himself. "Now I get it." With a smirk he decided not to bother the boy for the rest of the night, and that he would talk to him on Monday instead.
~*~MONDAY~*~
Sitting on his throne King Bob waited. A few minutes ago he had sent his guards to bring TJ to him. When one of the guards asked if there was a reason for it, he just told made up a lie off the top of his head.
With everyone on the playground remembering what happened last week between him and TJ, when he was dragged to the top of the jungle gym, there was a large crowd behind him. He was hoping that they would have a conversation without so many listening ears, but that didn't look like it was going to be the case. Once his guards made it to the top, King Bob told them to leave. Shocked at such a request, the guards had refused, saying that they were not going to leave their king alone with a disrespectful student. King Bob told them that he had everything under control, and if they didn't leave, he would get new guards. With that they left.
"Why'd you have me dragged up here?" TJ asked him, picking himself up from the floor.
"We need to talk," Said King Bob. "I know."
"Know what?"
"About what you really think about me."
"…R-really?"
"Yes. And I must say, you have an odd way of showing it."
"So are you gonna send me to the dodge ball wall or something," He asked. "'cause I really want to get back to ignoring you."
"No. I wanna talk about this."
"What's there to talk about?" He said throwing his arms up then following him. "You obviously don't feel the same way so can we drop this and go back to me not listening to you?"
"How do you know that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Fortunately for the two of them, the conversation they were having wasn't loud enough for the prying ears below to hear. Though they all were very interested in what the two of them were talking about. The guards were on their toes, ready to react if anything bad happened.
"On more than on occasion you have captured my attention," Said King Bob. "And I can't say that the feeling isn't somewhat mutual. But I must tell you now that there can't be anything more to our relationship other than a king and his follower."
"Well if you feel the same way then why not?"
"I'm a sixth grader and you're a fourth grader."
"But that's only two years!" Said TJ.
"I know two years doesn't seem like a lot," King Bob said. "But right now it is. Next year I'll be in middle school, and you'll still be here. And when you do reach middle school, I'll be in high school. We'll be at different points in our lives that cannot coexist."
"But that's so stupid!"
"That's just how it has to be." Said King Bob. Approaching the throne, TJ prepared to say something. One of those big speeches of his seemed like a good idea, but at the moment he was speechless. Instead he clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration, and then he gave the king a light punch on his right arm. The crowd below gasped, and his guard were climbing the jungle gym like lighting.
"Did I say come up here?" King Bob yelled down at them as the climbed,
"Well no—"
"So don't come here! I have this under control!" Not sure of what to do, the guard descended the jungle gym. Once they were at the bottom, King Bob got out of his throne just as TJ turned away from him. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, maybe we can try in high school."
"Why then?"
"Because we'll both be there. If we both feel the same way as we both do now, then maybe we could give it a chance. But we can't right now."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Fine," Turning back around, TJ held his hand out and the both of them shared a handshake before he headed back down. But on his way he walked back to the throne and pulled something out of his pocket. "Here."
"What is it?" King Bob asked him. He took what was in his hands and looked at it. "My baseball cards…"
"I got them back before you asked." Said TJ. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, you too." King Bob sat back in his chair and watched as the crazy monkey-boy took the slide to the bottom.
In the next few days things returned back to normal. King Bob didn't experience any more hostility from TJ, who was soon more than happy to carry out requests from it. And while things did return to normal, King Bob hoped that his most loyal subject still kept those same feelings. After all, high school was a long ways away.
*Looks around* This took me three days. Now i need an ice pack for my fingers. :P I like it I really do. And I hope you tell me how much you all like it to. In the form of reviews!
Please review!
