Hi!

Guess what? I finished my new chapter early! Yay! I hope you`re up for it :D

It`s a little longer than the previous ones, and I have to say that this is perhaps one of the chapters I like the most this far; we`re beginning to notice small hints of a crush here, Rex is in it, and Randall is slowly opening up to Sulley..! I hope you will like it too, and please tell me if you do (or if you don`t – in which case I`ll do my best to improve)..!

Anyway, I don`t think there`s much more to say about what`s waiting below… Read, review, enjoy! :)

Chapter 11: The Caretaker

"Sullivan!"

Randall`s loud cry filled the little hall in the apartment, and the lizard glared harshly at the blue monster who walked through his door; it wasn`t hard to tell he was angry;

"Will you please explain yourself?!"

"What..?"

Sulley put up an innocent face in order to convince Randall that he didn`t know what he meant; although he knew all too well why the scaly monster was so upset.

However, before Randall got to say anything else, Mrs Lorenzo appeared behind him in the living room-door with a big smile;

"Good morning, Mr Sullivan! Randy and I have been up for two hours already; we`ve cleaned the kitchen and made tea! Do you want some?"

"Sure..!" Sulley smiled at the old lady before taking another look at Randall; the lizard looked furious as he leaned a little closer to the blue one, whispering something Sulley interpreted as "We need to talk".

Sulley slowly moved his gaze over to the old lady again; "You just go ahead to the kitchen, Gladys; we`re coming!"

The prune-resembling monster turned around and rounded the corner, and in the second she was out of sigh, Randall grabbed hold of Sulley`s fur and pulled him closer;

"Who are you to hire me a babysitter?! She`s been here all night!"

"I know; I asked her to look after you before I left the building last night! You`ve been suicidal, it wouldn`t be right of me to leave you all on your own! Besides, I thought you liked her..!"

"She sat by my bed!"

"You`re not supposed to be alone..!"

"She sang me a lullaby!"

Sulley had to bite his lip in order to keep himself from bursting out with laughter from Randall`s last statement; "I… I`m sorry..! I`ll tell her to be more discrete tonight".

"She`s not staying here tonight!"

"Yes, she is. She`ll be here whenever I`m away; like I said, you can`t be on your own right now".

Randall growled as he let go of the blue one`s fur;

"Really..? And for how long are you planning to keep this arrangement going, may I ask?"

"Until you`re better and I can trust you".

Randall opened his mouth to say something, but Sulley beat him to it;

"And relax, she`s not gonna spend all of today with you. She`s going back to her own place after tea; I`m here now".

"Some improvement…" Randall hissed ironically; "And speaking of which, why aren`t you at work? It`s eight thirty!"

"I took the day off to be with you..!"

"What? Why on earth did you bother? You`ll get in trouble with the management!"

"Well…no." The blue monster put up a shy grin; "I sort of am the management now..!"

Randall`s face gained a look Sulley guessed had to be the expression of someone who had just learned that Christmas had been cancelled;

"You`re the what..?"

"Are you boys coming? Tea`s ready!" the interrupting voice came from the kitchen, and Sulley hurried to push Randall ahead in its direction;

"I`ll tell you over tea, Randall".

"Great, I can`t wait…" the lizard rolled his eyes, but followed the furry monster into the kitchen without putting up a fight. He figured it would probably have been a lost case, anyway…

An hour had passed since Gladys Lorenzo had gone back to her own apartment, and Randall had spent every second of it in the corner of the couch, pretending Sullivan wasn`t there. He was still angry with him for hiring the old lady to look after him, and ever since Sullivan had told him all about the "new" Monsters Inc., he`d been angry about that, too. Randall didn`t like the idea of Sullivan being in charge, and he really didn`t like the idea of the factory being changed into some sort of a circus; no matter if it was successful or not.

"Okay Randall, time to lighten up..!" Sullivan entered the room and sat down next to the purple figure, whose answer was to turn his head the other way and stare at the wall.

Sulley tried to keep a serious tone to his voice, but faced some serious difficulties; the lizard was acting like a little child, and in situations like this, he appeared to be at the same maturity level as his three-year-old nephew – Sulley couldn`t help it; he found this particular trait of family resemblance extremely amusing.

"Randall, seriously; cheer up -" He chuckled; "It`s not the end of the world."

When Randall didn`t respond, the blue monster decided it was time to change the subject;

"What do you wanna do today?"

"Nothing".

"Well, we`ll be bored, then".

"I`ll be bored".

"We will;I`m gonna be here until tonight, remember".

"Nobody asked you to".

"Well, you sort of did, when you showed me you`re not able to take care of yourself..!"

Randall couldn`t come up with a good answer to that one; it occurred to him that in an incredibly annoying way, Sullivan was right – this whole situation was basically his own fault. He could just strangle himself.

"Get up now; if you can`t think of anything to do, I`ll do the thinking for both of us!" Sullivan got up from the couch and gestured that the lizard should do the same; "It`s a nice day, we should start with a walk – come on!"

Since the scaly monster didn`t respond, the hairy one pulled him up from the couch and escorted him towards the front door; and before Randall knew it they were out on the street again - on a morning stroll in the nice winter weather.

The sidewalks had been cleared for snow, but a thick, white blanket was still covering the rooftops and the small lawns in between the buildings in Randall`s neighbourhood. The city was quiet; most of its citizens were at work, and the majority of monsters who were out walking were the elderly. Sulley looked at them, and chuckled to himself as he thought about Randall`s neighbours; the lizard surely hadn`t chosen to live in the most lively part of town.

The purple monster walked a couple of steps behind the blue one, wearing a woollen scarf as a protection from the icy wind. He had no idea where they were going, but it wasn`t like he cared anyway; he had nowhere he had to be and nothing he had to do, and in a way it felt sort of good to just follow along, not knowing what to expect. But he wished Sullivan could walk a little slower; Randall was still weak from going too long without eating, and he had a hard time trying to keep up with the blue monster. However, his pride kept him from asking the other to slow down and wait for him; that would have been too embarrassing.

The two monsters eventually entered the park and walked down the little road that stretched all the way through it; it was like a winter wonderland in there. There were no tall buildings or busy streets, so there were bigger areas were the snow could gather. There were also small stands selling coffee or hot chocolate, an ice-covered pond were one could ice-skate, and a steep hill which was filled with happy children playing and sleigh-riding in the snow.

Sulley tried to come up with something good to say about the scenery to Randall (as it was really the time to say something after nearly an hour of complete silence between the two), but just as he thought of something he was interrupted by a loud, happy voice;

"Ulley!"

He turned his head towards the hill and noticed Rex at the bottom of it; he was there with some of the children from the dayscare and a teacher Sulley didn`t know, and at the moment, he was waving at Sulley with three hands and holding on to his sledge with a fourth.

The blue monster was about to go over there and say hello, when he suddenly remembered who stood beside him; Rex`s uncle. He turned around and looked at Randall, who seemed to have frozen to the ground, eyes on the little orange monster a few meters away. He looked terrified.

"Are you okay..?"

"He`s coming over".

Sulley turned the other way again and saw Rex running towards them;

"It`s okay, Randall – I`ll take care of it!"

That was all he reached to say before Rex approached them with a big grin;

"I missed you, Ulley! Have you missed me? You`we ma best fwiend!"

"Sure, sure..!" The hairy monster took one last look at Randall to see how he was doing before he got down on his knees to greet Rex with a hug and a friendly hello. Rex was obviously happy to see him again, and babbled on about everything as usual. And as usual, Sulley didn`t understand half of it;

"Did you see me I slesh down thewe? Is high! I`m vewy bwave, you think I`m bwave? I ate cake! A you bwave, Ulley? You`we ma best fweind! Who`s that?"

The little monster suddenly stopped talking and pointed at his uncle, who didn`t seem to know what to do; he just looked at Sulley with eyes that expressed anxiety and despair, and the blue one felt a ray of sadness strike his heart – Rex didn`t even know who Randall was.

"That`s… My friend". Sulley said eventually, placing a hand on Rex`s shoulder as he tried his best to explain; he didn`t want to be the one telling Rex his uncle was back from banishment – that would probably result in a rather awkward conversation with Sophie tomorrow. Instead he just smiled and went on;

"He`s my friend, and his name is… George". Randall raised an eyebrow.

"Showge", Rex mimicked with a grimace, looking at the purple monster who kind of reminded him of his mum. However, he didn`t think about it for very long; there was too much going on around him.

"Ulley, wanna twy ma slesh?" he held his sledge up to Sulley, who tried to talk him out of it by making gestures with his hands;

"No, I don`t think… I`m busy, I`m out walking with your unc – I mean George, and -"

"Please!"

Sulley took another glimpse at Randall, who looked as if the entire world had just landed on his shoulders. The blue monster took a couple of steps towards him, leaned in close and whispered;

"Look George, I don`t think I can get out of this without upsetting him - do you mind if I just take one ride with him..? It`s easier that way"

"Go ahead". Randall`s voice was almost a whisper too, and he avoided Sulley`s eyes as usual. Also, he tried not to look at his little nephew, who waited impatiently for Sulley to slide down the hill with him.

Seconds later, Sulley was on his way up the hill, dragging Rex on the sledge behind him. The little monster was already laughing with joy, but the blue one felt straight out terrible. He felt an ache in his heart for Rex`s uncle, who waited for them at the bottom of the hill with pure grief written all over his face; Sulley thought it was a wonder none of the other monsters in the park noticed his condition and called the mental ward.

Once they reached the top, Rex commanded Sulley to sit down on the sledge with him, and when he did so, the little monster gently placed himself in the furry one`s lap;

"Lotta speed!" He turned his head and looked at his passenger with anticipation, and Sulley used his arms to create just what Rex was asking for; speed. Lots of it.

The ride was short, but surprisingly entertaining; Sulley laughed and shouted with Rex, and there were even a couple of times when he got so eager he almost fell of the sledge. When they were safe back down again, he got up and brushed the snow off his fur; only to receive a new request from Rex;

"Again!"

After making sure Randall was okay with it, Sulley rode down the hill with an ecstatic Rex again. And again. And again. The little monster`s jolly yells echoed in his ears, and once they reached the bottom for the seventh or eighth time, the blue one suddenly made a decision.

He got up, walked over to Randall and pulled him over to Rex and the sledge;

"You know what Rex; I think George wants a ride, too!"

"Don`t you dare..!" Randall whispered with a flaming glare.

It didn`t help much, though; Sullivan pushed the lizard ahead up the hill, with Rex safely placed on the sledge behind them.

"It will do you good, Randall!" Sulley had lowered his voice to a whisper to make sure Rex wasn`t catching up; "It`s fun..!"

"We`ll see about that…" Randall growled back. He probably would have said something more, but couldn`t make it; he was short of breath from walking up the steep hill. And he became, if possible, even more annoyed as Sulley smirked at him;

"Who knows, maybe it will improve the shape you`re in, too..?"

When they were at the top once again, Sulley sat down on the sledge. Rex took place in his lap as usual, eager for another round – then they both turned to look for the lizard, who needed a little more time to reach the top of the hill; and when he did, he was breathing rather heavily as he walked over to the two monsters that were waiting for him.

"You`ll have to sit in the back, George!" the blue monster said, looking at Randall, who realized he had no choice here. He sat down behind Sullivan, arms hanging loosely by his sides;

"I think you better hold on". Sulley was still looking at him, and the lizard rolled his eyes and placed his upper set of arms carefully on the blue monster`s shoulders; how hard could it be to keep oneself from falling off of this thing?

Moments later, Sulley used his big arms to move the sledge towards the edge of the hill, and the three monsters started their way back down again; it went a lot faster this time, now that they had an additional passenger on board – even though Randall wasn`t the heaviest citizen of Monstropolis; particularly not these days.

Rex screamed with joy like before, and Sulley couldn`t help but laugh too; if not from the ride, then at least from the little monster`s enthusiasm – although all of this playing in the snow did bring back some joyous childhood memories. The blue monster tried to turn his head to see what Randall thought of the experience, but decided it was probably safer to look forward.

By the time they`d reached the middle of the hill, the speed had increased; in front of Sulley Rex was still laughing and shouting, and his loud, happy cries reminded the blue monster of Boo. He remembered how she had been laughing exactly like this every time Mike hurt himself, and as Sulley started thinking of her he felt a cloud of sadness come over him.

Luckily, as they rode over a small bump that caused the sledge to jump, something suddenly distracted Sulley from the thoughts and pulled him back to the moment - he suddenly felt another set of arms gripping around him from behind, clinging on tight; Randall held on to him with all four of his arms now, and in a very peculiar way it made Sulley`s stomach jump. He was happy the lizard finally started to trust him, but he couldn`t explain the weird feeling in his own gut…

"Look out!"

The loud shriek caused Sulley to stop thinking once again and regain his focus on what was happening around them; they were about to hit a couple of female monsters with baby-carriages, and the blue monster turned the sledge by instinct, causing it to crash into a big pile of snow.

Everything went white; white, cold and wet.

Sulley crawled, trying to find out which way that was up; he found he had Randall`s tail in his face and Rex`s feet on his chest, and snow absolutely everywhere. Eventually, he managed to dig his way out, and Randall`s head popped up beside him; and to Sulley`s surprise, the lizard grinned. However, he replaced it with a frown the second he noticed that Sullivan was watching him;

"Darn it Sullivan, are you trying to get us killed?" He coughed a couple of times and looked in another direction.

"I thought that was what you wanted..?"

"Very funny…" The lizard found his way out of the snow and brushed it off; he couldn`t remember the last time he rode a sledge, and had to keep his face away from Sullivan so that the blue monster wouldn`t see that he was actually struggling to hold back a smile – that would have been embarrassing.

"Again!" Rex finally made his way out from the snow and climbed onto Sulley`s back;

"Ulley, again! Again!"

"I`m getting tired -" Sulley`s answer brought out disappointment in Rex`s face, but the furry monster continued in a hopeful voice; "But maybe George will take you for a ride..?"

Sulley looked over at Randall, who turned around to meet his gaze - desperately indicating that this was a bad idea; he didn`t want to be alone with Rex.

Luckily for Randall, Rex`s teacher called for the little monster, telling him it was lunch-time. Sulley decided, much due to Rex`s prayers, that he and Randall could join the children for their meal, and eventually they all sat down together. Rex even shared his hot chocolate with "Ulley", but he was less eager about sharing it with "Showge"; after all, he didn`t even know this guy he suddenly had to share his "best fwiend" with.

The teacher who escorted the kids was newly hired at Monsters Inc., so, like Rex, she didn`t know who Randall was; Sulley was happy about that, and he could imagine Randall was, too – at least he looked relaxed at the moment.

After a long lunch-break, a couple of more rides down the hill, a sad goodbye to Rex (who had been crying) and a walk back home, Sulley and Randall made it back to Randall`s apartment in the afternoon; they were both exhausted, and (although Sulley`s weren`t showing) they both had rosy cheeks from spending all of those hours outdoors.

Once back inside, the blue monster made them dinner; at least he made the call for pizza. Randall sat the table, and eventually the duo sat down with their food, and it pleased Sulley to see how much Randall`s appetite had increased only from yesterday.

Silence was still awkwardly present between them, but Sulley was okay with it; Randall talked when he had something to say, and that was fine – besides, the furry monster guessed the lizard would open up a bit more once they got to know each other better. After all, only a few days had passed since he didn`t talk at all.

"I haven`t seen him since he was one year old, you know".

Sulley looked up; speak of the sun..! Randall had just said something, but the blue one wasn`t sure about what;

"Huh?"

"I haven`t seen him for two years".

"Who?"

"Rex". Randall looked down at his empty plate with a careless look on his face; it was as if he was talking about the weather.

"I figured it was long ago… He didn`t recognize you".

Randall fell silent again, and Sulley took another bite of his pizza-slice;

"Are you okay?"

"Sure… He`s not my kid".

"He`s your nephew".

"How do you know him?" Randall looked up and faced Sulley.

"Sophie… I`m friends with Sophie".

"I didn`t know that".

"I haven`t known her for long; I first met her the day we came here together. I gave her your belongings, and she wanted me to come with her. We`ve kept in touch after that, talked at work and stuff".

"I see".

Silence took over the living room again, until Randall, much to Sulley`s surprise, decided to speak once more, eyes back down at his plate;

"Does she know - Sophie - Have you told her… About me..?"

"No. Do you want me to?"

Randall looked at Sulley again, and for the first time during their conversation about the lizard`s family, the blue monster noticed there was sadness in the other`s eyes;

"I don`t think so. Not yet."

Sulley nodded; he understood.

They sat on the couch for yet another while, until they decided it was time to clear the table and load the dishwasher. Randall did it this time; he knew where things were going. Sulley had to chuckle at the lean, purple monster in the kitchen; he was such a neat freak (and apparently a control-freak too), and the furry one found himself looking at the other from the living room – it was good to see Randall in action, doing something else than mutter on the couch – or underneath his covers in bed.

After half an hour, Gladys Lorenzo knocked on the door; she was there for the "evening shift". Before Sulley headed back home, all three of them had some tea together;

"I`ll have to go to work tomorrow, Randall". Sulley placed his teacup on the table;

"Are you going to be fine here with Gladys during the day? I`ll check in on you in the afternoon!"

"Sure…"

"I have some tasks for you tomorrow, Randy -" Mrs Lorenzo shot in; "You can help me do my groceries, and then there`s this nasty light bulb above my bathroom mirror – do you think you can fix it?"

Sulley chuckled; it sounded like Randall had work tomorrow as well.

Eventually, the blue monster got up from the table and headed for the door; Gladys removed the teacups and Randall followed Sulley out in the hallway. The purple one still had a frown on his face, but his mood and manner had really improved in the past few days. Today, he even said "goodbye" as he closed the door; and Sulley felt weirdly warm inside as he headed back outside in the frosty city landscape.

Okay… That`s it for now! What do you think? About the whole thing? Don`t hesitate to tell me, I`m eager to know what you guys think of what I do.

Thanks to Nekophy for giving me a little suggestion for the story; it`s taken into consideration, and Mike will visit Randall with Sulley in a couple of chapters! It`s a good idea, and I think it can lead to some good situations or conversations;)

I`m on holiday, but I`m still writing every day – I don`t know exactly when I`ll have the next chapter ready, but it will definitely be during this week; I hope you will all be back to read it:)

Take care!