Old Enough
Old Enough
Summary: Reece is too old for video games. Time to get a real job.
Date: 91 ACH
Related Logs: None
Players:
Snatch..Adele..Reece-Zimmermann..

You knock on the door to Townhome A.

From Townhome A you hear shouting: There is a darkening of the peephole, and then a voice calls out, "Who is it?"

To Townhome A: Snatch stands out on the stoop, arms crossed over her chest, "Ah'm lookin' fer the Spraicht. He home?" she hollers back.

From Townhome A you hear shouting: Reece? Yes, he's home - may I ask who is looking for him?

To Townhome A: Ou-ais," Snatch replies, "C'est moi, Snatch, ou-ais. Ah come bah t' put him t' some profitful chore'n fer his mamma. Bes' ought not leave him kennin' 'at, though, ou-ais, he'ns gone hide unnerneath his bed an' fuss about with them games o' hins!" Far from trying to keep it a real secret, though, she lifts her voice as if hoping the kid will hear and take offense at her calling him lazy. She grins as she teases the kid.

Adele lets Snatch in, but Reece isn't in immediate sight. But there is a thudding of feet on the stairs, and soon enough the twelve year old is lurking behind Adele in the living room. He grins at Snatch, and Adele looks between the two of them. "I'm Adele," she tells the other woman, extending a hand. "You work for Major Zimmermann?"

"Han, Spraicht!" Snatch greets the kid as he bolts in, reaching out as if to cuff him one in a rough-and-tumble sort of sisterly affection, but then withdrawing the cuff at the last moment, grinning at him as if delighted to keep him guessing, and takes Adele's hand instead, grabbing it and giving it two firm shakes. "Ou-ais, Ah'm the Cap'm's snaahp, ou-ais," she draws out a lazy-sounding agreement. "Han, fanciful digs y'ns all livin' in o'er here," she notices, then squints at the Sprocket, "Y'ns ain't raahtly reck'nin' yer livin' the tall laahf, is yin, Spraicht? Ah bes' ought put them hainds o' your'n t' work an' raaaht quick," she teases him.

Reece just continues to grin, clearly amused by Snatch's attempt to keep him guessing. "Yeah, it's nice," the kid replies, nodding. "Doctor Pike even said something about /maybe/ getting that zombie game from the arcade in the Hera. Right, Doctor Pike?" Adele, having shaken Snatch's hand, turns to level an indulgent smile at Reece. "I'm glad it was you who reminded me this time instead of Major Zaharis. Yes, I just need to mention it to Maj— Colonel Carter. In the meantime, I think you're being recruited for the afternoon." She gestures to Snatch.

Snatch just shakes her head, "Feller yer age bes' ought put away them toys an' leave 'em fer the kidduns," she tells him, "Y'ns got hainds, y'ns got arms, y'ns ole enough," she reasons, "Taahm fer yin t' learn yersailf a trade an' put yernsailf t' better use'n 'at. M'a gone learn yin how t' fit wood slats an' peg 'em, ou-ais. Case y'ns e'er need to build yin yer own dang house some day, ou-ais," she adds with a playful sort of grin. "Then y'ns gone learn yin t' handle them -duck- out thar. Earn yin an aig 'er twin a week, ou-ais? Good eats fer a growin' feller."

Adele just listens to Snatch, trying to disguise the fact that she is having a little trouble following the dialect. She glances at Reece expectantly after the snipe speaks.

Reece glances back at Adele in a 'What?' sort of adolescent way. He shrugs. What, does he look like a translator? But he seems to follow that without too much trouble. He shrugs again. "Computers aren't toys," he corrects Snatch. It sounds less toy-like than 'video game' when he puts it that way. "And I do other stuff. Mom and Doctor Pike make me read and stuff. And I volunteer over at the clinic sometimes. I think being a doctor would be pretty cool." Another shrug in Adele's direction when he says that. It's been a new goal of his. Still, he doesn't look entirely un-intrigued by the whole duck thing. "What would I have to do?"

"Readin' ain't doin'," Snatch points out with a grin. She's barely picked up a book since she was five and in scripture lessons, and even then it was mostly for looking at the pictures. "Y'ns gone make sure them hatches stay in good repair an' clean," she explains, "Y'ns gone keep them -duck- fed," she always puts a little emphasis on the word 'duck.' It's a recent arrival to her vocabulary, having overcome 'cacaoui.' "An' bah jiminy y'ns gone make sure none them folk out thar come bah an' bother 'em or swaahp 'em aigs. Gone need t' learn yin how t' hole a gun, too, Ah reckon," she wrinkles her nose in thought. Whatever train of thought led her from livestock thieves to shotguns is probably left behind among the ruins of her Aerelon home, where no small number of would-be cattle rustlers have laid unburied for the dogs to eat.

"A gun?" Reece is equal parts intrigued and wary. And a little somber. "I used to go shooting with my dad sometimes…I don't really like guns, though." He shrugs, as if embarrassed to admit it. He moves on. "That sounds cool, though. I mean, looking out for the ducks and everything. I used to have a dog back on Picon. I mean, he didn't lay eggs or anything, but I had to feed him and walk him and stuff." He nods to himself. Rather liking the idea of a pet.

Snatch picks up on a little bit of that somberness, and she lets her features grow a little pensive. "Han— ou-ais, mahn pappa use t' taik min out shootin' a-swell, Spraicht. Ah reckon in's one on them thangs a pappa's boun' bah Sacer'd Law t' fin for's kidduns," she adds, reaching out a hand to clap it in a sisterly fashion on his shoulder, her heart hurting a little for both their fathers and her quirk of a smile not afraid to show it. "We'ns ain't got t' go shootin' 'fin y'ns ain't feelin' laik't," she adds in a more gentle tone than most in the fleet have ever heard her use, giving his shoulder an assuring squeeze. "Wayll… good. Y'ns raaht haahr'd, than," she pronounces, taking her hand from his shoulder and bringing her own hands together in a swift clap as if to seal the pronouncement.

Reece shrugs, rather awkward, but he does offer Snatch a small nod. "Okay…" he replies simply. Clapping as well. It's a decisive sort of gesture. "Cool. So, you want to show me how to look after them, then? I've never really done much with ducks. They had some in the parks back on Picon but only the kids went to feed them." Not the big twelve-year-old men like him.

"Ah will shore do," Snatch promises, almost managing to look sage about the matter. "Common, than, let's uns git," she adds with a jerk of her head toward the door before heading off in that direction.

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