His Superstar

Chapter 12: The Multitasker

     My day was absolute madness. I'd woken up extra early because of the VR incident (as I now called it) and hadn't gotten enough sleep, I left my Starburst at home, had to work Dave's afternoon shift (which included hourly check-ups on the DJ), and as if my day couldn't get crazier, something was up with Moon.

     I'd gone to the daycare to check on Ballora, but when I arrived the lights were off. I found this strange because nap times were usually in the early afternoons and evenings, not mid-afternoon. I carefully crept through the daycare, trying to find Ballora, but I ended up finding Moon with Rosemary.

     Rosemary was a regular now; she came for the second half of the day most Saturdays and Wednesdays, and came for the occasional birthday party. Moon cared about her deeply, and was always touched when she reminded him that he was her only favorite. It was an interesting contrast; with other children he could be harsh and scary, but with Rosemary he was calm and kind. She was the only one he allowed to skip nap times and roam freely throughout the daycare without supervision. It was sweet to see him being so open with someone.

     "Moon," I whispered, "have you seen Ballora?"

     He looked at me and hesitated, almost looking wistful. "Ballora's cleaning," he said.

     My brows furrowed. It was uncharacteristic of both him and Sun to leave a mess untended to. They even sometimes prioritized cleaning over watching children, which wasn't very safe given the fact that the daycare constantly looked like a baby unicorn princess had thrown up everywhere.

     So why had Moon let Ballora clean?

     "... Why?" I asked.

     "Because I told her to. Rosemary wanted to play with me, and..." he stopped. "Sh- she better be doing a good job. And she better not wake anyone up."

     Rosemary giggled. "Ballora wanted to clean and Moon said 'thank you'."

     My eyes widened. "Did he now?" I said, looking at Moon with a surprised expression. "I almost can't believe it."

     "He keeps saying she's really nice and helpful and pr-"

     "Rosemary!" Moon whisper-shouted. "I think that's enough. Y/N has to do her job she can get going."

     I placed a thoughtful hand on my chin and replied, "Oh, I think I might stay for a bit... Hang out here for a while, you know?"

     "Y/N?" Rosemary asked, tugging on my arm and looking up at me with large, gray eyes. "Did you make Ballora?"

     I smiled. "Yes, I did. It took a long time, and lots of work. It was definitely worth it, though."

     "I think she's beautiful," she responded. "She looks like a princess."

     "You really think so?" I asked, genuinely flattered.

     "Mm hm! Moon thinks so, t-"

     "Rosemary, maybe you should go get her," Moon interrupted, putting his hands on her shoulders.

     She skipped the "asking why" part and went straight to giggling again and nodded, then ran off to find Ballora. We watched her until she rounded a corner and disappeared from view. Immediately, I sprang into action.

     "Stand straight, let me scan you," I ordered firmly, but still quiet enough as not to disturb the sleeping children.

     He grumbled, but straightened his posture. I went on with the short procedure, and seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary, I opted to go about his "check-up" a bit differently than the normal ones.