#and is that one side character suspiciously similar to a certain character by @an-artist-place-for-extra-art? maaaybe ;)

[wario-speedwagon]

Dave and Old Sport Adopt a Kid: Chapter 7

And so I return with another chapter! This one's a bit less chaotic and more so just wholesome and introspective on our child, "Pruny." Full chapter is under the cut, and also some more amazing fanart at the end, too, this time by Fyreon! I hope you enjoy! <3

Chapter 1 Chapter 6

Chapter 7

“Aaand there!” Dave triumphantly declared as he lifted off Pruny’s penultimate shirt until just her new lavender polka dotted pajama top remained. “Feels much better, don’t it?”

The small girl nodded up at the purple man–Dave–who was sitting next to her in the back seat.  It was admittedly easier in some ways to interact with Dave since his voice was so loud she didn’t always have to rely on lipreading as much to understand him. On the other hand, his loud personality was a lot for her, but she didn’t terribly mind. 

She could tell she was ready to fall asleep soon, as she was getting too tired to maintain eye contact anymore, and the man was still chit-chatting away with her, more than she had the energy to keep up with, so she started to tune him out.

Today had been a nonstop roller coaster of many different emotions. She hadn’t experienced so much excitement in a long time. 

…

Probably not since she had to leave her old home… It must have been close to a year ago by now…

She found herself wondering how some of her friends–if she could be so bold as to call them that–were doing…

Her friend Izzy who didn't mind hanging out with her in the orphanage… and the other ones who at least didn’t make her time there worse…

Friends who she left behind… But that’s just how it went there: people came and went all the time there. It’s just that her turn to go wasn’t as… happy as the others’...

Ah well. She really needed to stop bringing that to mind so much when it’s behind her now…

…

So she thought more about her time on the streets instead; about that cool older kid on a nearby street who sometimes shared their makeup, even taught her to hide her skin tone to blend in more. She sometimes saw glimpses of purple shades on the edges of their skin, and unless it was some strange aesthetic technique, she wondered if they were maybe like her under their own makeup. Was that too much to hope for? But Dave showed her she really wasn’t alone.

But that kid… despite wanting to, she never managed to find the words to ask their name. Or even their gender at that, which she’d never been sure about. 

She realized she never got to tell them her name either…

…Or there was that sweet, older man who always offered her one of his bakery goods that he just bought—she was sure that he must have always made sure to buy something extra just for her, and she didn't know why he thought she deserved it.

He'll have to keep her treat for tomorrow. Or maybe for a while… if she doesn’t ever see him again…

Was all of this going to be some permanent change?

…

Truthfully, she hoped so.

…

Nudging herself back awake, she glanced to her left at Dave and noticed he wasn't rambling anymore, but blankly looking ahead in her general direction off in the distance, as if contemplating something. But as she turned to look directly at him, his eyes quickly met hers and a smile returned to his face again as he began to speak again, more softly this time as she lip read:

“Y'know kid, I really hope this all works out for us.”

An indescribable feeling of relief falling over her, she found herself agreeing.

Is this how those other kids felt? The ones who left?

Dave slumped himself back against the car seat, arms crossed. He let out a rather loud yawn, one that brought attention to her own tiredness as she also rested her head against the door window.

“Now what is that tangerine up to, making us wait so long?”

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Jack finally exited the closing store with everything he needed–well more specifically, what she needed of course, but it took a hot second to not only find what was needed but to also budget-puzzle what he could manage to afford, what was necessary, what could wait a bit, what he could discreetly slip into a pocket…

He knew this was all probably going overboard for a girl that was only staying no more than a night or two hopefully, but hey, she could use the stuff on her own once she's taken under better care. She was a good kid.

Though Jack didn't care for how his mind was mentally preparing for a long term stay, because it wasn't happening. He just had to find a way to not have her end up back on the streets either.

*sigh*

Finally approaching his car, Jack opened the driver's seat door and threw the bags over into the empty passenger seat. Empty, huh? Evidently no one claimed shotgun. And as he was about to address his guests in the back, Jack promptly ate his words when he noticed the two of them were fast asleep in the back. Frankly Jack was both impressed and glad for a more quiet drive home like he was used to. So he opened the car door carefully and tried not to wake them as he not-so-quietly proceeded to boot up his piece of junk car for home.

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When the soothing rumbling stopped, Violet woke up to a disorienting sweeping motion, but she was still too tired to bother opening her eyes more than a slit. She knew she was being carried bridal style, and glancing up, the fuzzy purple hued figure towering over her was enough to tell her it was Dave carrying her. She felt the cold night air around her, and then the muffled thud of car doors closing behind them, the movement of Dave walking-

When light started to surround them, she buried her face in Dave's chest to keep sweet darkness as the two men discussed something quietly which she hardly had the energy to begin trying to hear and decipher.

…She then felt herself being let down onto what was probably a sofa? A quick squinted glance confirmed her surroundings to be Jack's living room before she quickly blocked out the harsh light again and buried her face into the couch. Violet was committed to her comfortable act of being asleep, but since being lifted from her sleep in the car, her mind was awake again.

The room suddenly flicked dim as a lamp must have been turned off with only the further kitchen light spilling in, and their muffled voices grew more distant. Violet was finally left with her thoughts, and today gave her much to think about. Suddenly falling in with these two guys: was it even safe? Was it a good idea? Why did they want her? Or, well at least the purple one did, though the orange one seemed nice, except for that knife from the beginning… 

She didn’t know what to make of either of them. She didn't understand them. Who they were, what they're about, or even what kind of people they really are. She'd not been out in the streets for more than a year or so, but even so, she quickly learned the importance of following her gut instinct around new people.

And that's what perplexed her: there was something… genuine about them. Especially the purple one. And he really was purple, without a doubt! She couldn’t help but be interested and perhaps excited just by that alone. Was he really also like her? Maybe that's why she felt at ease around him, just the natural kinship of finally not being alone…

The orange one, though, she could tell from his shoddy job that his orange-ness wasn't natural; definitely makeup. She couldn't think of a reason why someone would go out of his way to color his skin so strangely, especially when she sometimes went out of her way to hide her skin with makeup to look “normal.”

Those men were both a mystery that she admittedly wanted to get to know better… But she was a mystery to them too. They don't even know her actual name; they'd just given her a name when she failed to volunteer her own. Although it was a strange name, she didn't entirely hate it. Pruny… She’d been called worse before, or at least names that felt worse considering the way they said those “nicknames.” This one honestly felt nice, no matter how strange it–or the people using it–were.

One day, though… she hoped that she'd be able to tell them the name Violet.

…That is, if there will be more days for her to keep trying. For now, though, the couch was the comfiest night she'd had in months. She didn’t even notice when the blanket had been placed over her.

(Chapter 8) ->

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FANART! <3

Huge thanks to @fyreonfnaf for this adorable art of Pruny and her first words- er, word!! It's so freakin cute!

And thanks to everyone as always for the continued support!