Peppermint soon finished her candy stash and decided to go outside, and find a tree to climb. She slid the window open and hopped out, landing on her back. The girl groaned for a second before getting up and finding a good tree. She clambered up it, clutching her doll.
By the time she'd reached the top, she realized she had no way to get down, and started to panic. Back at home, the trees always helped her get down. Always, because of who Mama was. But these trees couldn't help her down. So she was stuck. The girl blinked back tears as she clutched her doll to her chest, trying not to cry.
Hi went outside help peppermint, knowing she was in trouble somehow. He helped her off the tree
Nyx suddenly felt a spear of wrong drive itself through her chest.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Hurrying back down the stairs, she noticed that Peppermint was gone, and a window was open.
"Peppermint?" she called, going to the window. "Peppermint, where are you?"
Beckett Randall kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk, making note of the grass growing between the cracks. Then, through the crisp air he heard a high scream, like that of a young girl. His head jerked up and he caught a glimpse of pink up in a tree.
"Holy shit," he breathed, and he ran to the tree, ignoring that it was in someone else's yard.
"Hey, are you okay?" he shouted, and didn't get an answer.
"Okay, I'm just gonna climb up, is that okay?" he rambled. He braced his foot against the trunk and pushed his hat down over his ears before hauling himself up. The bark was rough under his hand, and he looked up, trying to get a better view of where to climb to.
Hi caught peppermint back inside " she's fine! "
What's that idiot doing climbing the tree?"
"Y-yeah," Peppermint replied, looking down at Beckett. "I climbed up from there," she stated, pointing at a branch that could easily support a grown adult. "Then, I went to there, there, and now I'm here!"
"Okay, kid, I need you to climb to me," Beckett said. "Can you get down here, or do you need me to climb higher?"
Two others gathered below the tree, and he scowled. Did every single event of his life need to be interrupted?
Of course, one event hadn't been, but he pressed that memory down.
That child an asshole…" he commented
"Peppermint!" Nyx rushed over to the girl. "Are you okay?"
(Note: Nyx gets very mama-bear when kids are hurt/scared/etc.)
"I can maybe get down one branch or two," Peppermint responded. She ventured out further and lowered herself down to the next, her toes barely landing on it. She gained her footing for a second, hugging the tree, before her doll slipped from her grasp. "No!" The girl reached for her doll and lost her balance, almost falling down the tree, but managing to catch herself on the branch, whimpering quietly. "Help me…"
"Here, I'm coming." Nyx grabbed the doll, handed it to Vozreal, and hoisted herself up into the branches, rough bark scraping at her hands. Reaching the branch where the girl was, she pulled Peppermint into her arms. "I've got you. Are you all right?"
"Fuck," Beckett muttered, careful that the girl wouldn't hear him, and then forced a more optimistic tone. "Alright. I'm on my way up, okay? Just hold on. Don't move or anything. I've got you."
He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself or the girl. Maybe both. He hadn't climbed a tree since he was what, thirteen? Five years ago. But maybe the muscle memory was still there. He gripped another branch and pulled himself up until he was beside the girl.
"Okay, can you climb on my back? I can't carry you and climb the tree," Beckett said.
Nyx scowled at the newcomer. "I've got this under control, thanks."
"Yeah, I can get on your back," Peppermint murmured. The girl did her best to climb onto Beckett's back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I-is this good?"
Nyx huffed and clambered back down the tree so she was a few branches down from the twosome, ready to catch Peppermint if something went wrong.
"Yeah, just hold on tight," Beckett said. "Okay. Okay. I'm sort of rusty at this, you know, but we should be fine. We should be fine." He forced himself to sound more confident, if only for the child's sake. "You know, I used to have this big-a–, er, this huge apple tree in my backyard, my little sister and I would climb it all the time as kids."
This was just like that, he reassured himself. Just with an additional weight on his back and around his neck, and also a potential casualty. So not really the same, but close enough.
He got to a lower branch, and helped Peppermint onto it.
"Okay, kid, can you jump into that tall bast–, uh, the tall guy's arms?" Beckett asked.
"I'm right here," Nyx reminded him. She was straddling a branch, the moon making her pale skin glow.
"Yeah, but why should I drop her onto another branch when I could just have the guy on the ground catch her?" Beckett said with a shrug. "Seems like a lot of pointless extra steps."
He kept one arm around Peppermint's shoulders to keep her steady on the branch.
Nyx raised an eyebrow and slithered down another few branches, landing lightly on the ground next to Vozreal.
"Right!" Peppermint readied herself to jump, only shouting "Catch me, old man!" as a warning before leaping from the tree, her momentum knocking Vozreal to the ground. The girl stood up, grinning and ran over to her doll, which was still on the ground.
"This nice guy saved me, and you guys don't even help my dolly? I like him better. Plus, he says swears around me, 'cause I'm not a little kid, I can hear swears."
"I gave your doll to Vozreal to keep safe," Nyx said, scanning the girl for cuts or scrapes. "Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?"
"Yeah, but the old man dropped her! She could have gotten hurt!" Peppermint pouted as Nyx examined her. "I don't need your pity, old lady. I'm fine!"
Beckett watched Peppermint land–well, sort of land–safely before standing up, his hand braced against the tree. He turned to climb down when his foot caught a patch off moss and he slipped, losing his grip. He fell the remaining feet, one of his wrists giving a sharp crack when it met the grass.
"Goddamn it-" he swore, standing shakily. "Oh, uh, hi. I'm Beckett Randall. 'sthat your kid? You should look after her better."
Nyx, stung, folded her arms, turned to the guy, and raised an eyebrow.
"I don't have children," she said stiffly. "I'm twenty-one, thank you."
Peppermint giggled as Beckett spoke. "See? He swears around me! And they wish I was their kid! I'm Mama's kid!" The girl grinned proudly, running over to Beckett and stepping on Vozreal in the process. "I like him," she stated.
"Please, I know twenty-one year olds with kids. Plus, you know, there's this neat thing called adoption, apparently it's this wild new system where you can get a kid you didn't birth," Beckett said dryly. "So is this old guy her father? If he is, he's a shitty parent. What kinda parent lets their kid climb a tree at night?"
"Yare yare…" He said, sighing
"I have my own children! I am not her father, idiot."
"I think I'll go to bed," Nyx said stiffly before heading inside. It had been a long day, and her pink silk nightgown was calling her name. Plus, her spurs were aching, and she needed to take her bracelets off.
