"Hey, Davii?" Ben said, still completely incapable at pronouncing Zavid's name that he had been trying to teach them for the past twenty minutes.
Zavid groaned, setting down large cushions in the play pen for the little kids to be comfortable. "Yes, Ben?"
Ben lifted a key he made out of Legos. "What do you think about dis?"
Zavid was silent for a few moments, climbing out of the pen, then shrugged. "What's it for?"
"For every door in 'e world," Ben explained.
Zavid chuckled. "It looks great."
Askira banged on the side of the Box. She put her hands through the "prison bars", making gestures with them at Zavid. Zavid wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Young lady!" He scolded.
Askira stuck her tongue out. Zavid rolled his eyes. His eyes widened in fear as he saw another poof of white smoke. It disappeared, and the toddler standing there was one he ended up not being so scared of. Josephine. Her ankle was healed, but Zavid guessed that that was just while she was a toddler.
He felt a little weird that his girlfriend...was a toddler, then he remembered that while they were little, they really didn't know him at all. Josephine stared at him for a long few moments, then picked up a random Lego that had went soaring over the pen earlier, and threw it at Zavid.
Askira laughed loudly at that. "Yeah!"
Asher started laughing, too, unable to help it. Willow snatched the key out of Ben's hand, gnawing on it. Ben frowned. "Give that back!"
Zavid growled at Josephine, irritated. Josephine stuck her tongue out. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. He scooped Josephine up and practically threw her in to the pen. It all happened in a flash. Little Josephine landed on her belly on a cushion. She turned to look up at him, her eyes wide with fear. She burst into tears.
Willow accidentally pulled the key in the wrong direction, startled, causing it to fall apart. Ben stared at the pile of Legos that he had spent a while shaping into the key. His face screwed up and started wailing. Feeling guilty, Willow joined in the crying, creating a hideous chorus of tears with the other two.
Askira started to shake the Box with all her might, screaming. Asher started to feel uncomfortable from all the chaos. Tears pricked his eyes, and he started crying gently, not nearly as loud as the others. Askira started screaming very inappropriate curse words, which made Asher cry harder.
Zavid's eyes widened. "No, no, no, Josephine, don't cry, I'm sorry!" He started panicking when she only cried harder. Askira flipped him off. "Let me the f-"
"Askira!"
"Screw your mother!" She screamed. "Screw her for giving you life!"
Zavid growled. "Askira, that's enough!"
Askira screamed loudly. "HELP ME! HE'S TRYING TO MURDER ME! HE HAS A DAGGER!"
Zavid hated that. He reached into the Box, slapping her hard on the back of the head. "Shut up, you stupid toddler!" Askira spat at him.
Josephine was practically screaming with tears now. Willow, obviously exhausted from crying, had fallen asleep. Ben feebly tried to piece his key back together, but his tears were halting him. Asher simply rocked back and forth as he cried, wanting everyone to stop being mad and sad.
Zavid was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Everyone, be quiet!" He shouted loudly. The kids immediately halted, looking at him with fear, Willow jolting awake.
Askira shouted a million curse words, but Zavid's venomous look stopped her. In another poof of white smoke, Fraya was there. Josephine crossed her arms curling up in the corner angrily. Ben sullenly worked on his key, Willow falling back asleep.
Zavid sighed. Fraya tilted her little head, peering at him curiously. He picked her up. She giggled, poking his cheek. Zavid sighed again, setting her down in the pen. "Hi!" Asher greeted.
At least they didn't remember each other. Little kids dating? That would be weird. After a few minutes of them chatting, Asher started tickling Fraya, who squealed with laughter. Josephine gripped the pen's bars, staring at Zavid.
Zavid felt uncomfortable, still guilty about making her cry. He frowned when there was more white smoke. "Another child? Already?" He mumbled. Standing there, with her blonde hair, was Elora. She squeaked when Zavid picked her up and grumpily set her down in the pen.
For being de-aged to five years old, Askira had a very dirty mouth. So dirty, in fact, that he had to wrap a cloth around her mouth to get her to stop.
"Who wants snacks?" He asked, still feeling irritated. The children all brightened up at that. Except for Willow. Who was still sleeping. Zavid offered a cookie to Elora. "This is a pretty healthy cookie," he said jokingly. "It has coconut oil in it."
Elora wrinkled her nose at that. "No."
Almost immediately, Fraya snatched it out of Zavid's hand. "I'll try it!" She took a large bite of the cookie, giving Elora a look. "You can't even taste the coconut!" Elora sniffed, not responding.
Zavid had no idea how Askira managed to get the cloth off of her because he had tied it pretty well, but next thing he knew, she was screaming. "LET ME OUT OF THIS DAMN BOX!"
"No." Zavid said simply. There was more smoke and Ty appeared. Zavid groaned. "So many kids...Ty, do you want a cookie?"
Ty grinned. The five-year old didn't respond, simply snatching a chocolate chip cookie and devouring it.
Willow woke up. She stared at the plate of cookies, her eyes still half-closed from just waking up. Zavid offered her a cookie and she took it.
Askira screeched more profanities. Zavid gritted his teeth. "Askira. You are the bane of my existence right now."
"Does it look like I care?" She snapped, violently shaking the Box more.
Zavid simply sighed, wishing and wishing that this torment would end already.