Every Teen Has Their Price
Posted on Tue Mar 30th, 2021 @ 5:17pm by Lieutenant M'rrina & Isabella Cerin & R'ssa & Tulilah Cel
Mission:
When the Bough Bounces
841 words - 1.7 OF Standard Post Measure
The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition held that every man had his price. That was serving as a bit of a guidepost to Izzy as she sought to wrangle appropriate babysitters to focus on watching the young children, both natural and otherwise: Every preteen had their price. Luckily for her, that price often could be served with things like unlimited junk food or access to questionable entertainment videos, both of which she was capable of providing. It had been going fairly well until she came to Lieutenant M'rrina's quarters in search of her 12 year kit, R'ssa, to join the force...and the door opened to the sight of the object of her quarry staring up at the top platform on one of the climbing structures throughout the main room, ears pressed back against her head in annoyance. On the platform itself was a much smaller, hissing ball of fur.
"Come ON mom, you didn't let me behave that way when I WAS five!" R'ssa tail swished.
Maybe I'll come back to this place later, Izzy thought, letting the door slide closed again. Preschoolers with claws and fangs were probably best handled by their own kind, if at all possible. She annotated the list of the padd she was carrying, glanced at it again, and made her way as swiftly as she could to the next name on the list...Briefly delayed by, among other things, a tricycle being ridden through the corridor, a large wad of chewing gum stuck to the control panels on a turbolift, and being shot with a water pistol full of some sort of dark juice, which now left a dripping stain down the front of her blouse and jacket.
If she had hopes that humanoids might be a better bet, the raised voices from the Cel quarters - audible even from outside the door - could well give her pause.
"DAD! This ISN'T FUN anymore!"
"WHEE!! IS TOO!!"
**Crash, Clatter**
"You'd have GROUNDED me for that!!"
Izzy cringed, but it was too late--the door swooshed open, displaying Tulilah, her much younger father, and the resulting disaster zone. She cringed again, and forced herself to continue, thinking that she might actually know a suitable hook in this case from the situation. "....Perhaps you'd care to drop him at a care center and fun house area being assembled?" Izzy looked at Tulilah, having a hard time from keeping her eyes from wandering to the detritus around them. "The only price is that you'll need to help watch some of the others. But I think we can find you some less...energetic...charges, in exchange..."
Tulilah put a hand on her hip, lower lip jutting out as she considered the adult in front of her. She'd been through too many nannies and teachers not to recognize that for what it was. For all she missed her father being more grown up, she had little patience for the sort of adult who thought that kids would fall for something that transparent. ""Do you think I'm stupid? I'm watching him because he's my dad and I owe it to him. You want me to watch little terrors - or worse, ones that need diapers changed," she made a 'eww, ick' face, "I get 15 credits per hour for babysitting. And unless you have a whole lot of help lined up, make that per kid."
I just can't wait to have try and justify this expense to the contracting folks at headquarters... thought Izzy, resisting the urge to grimace in anticipation of that task. "I do have a lot of help lined up, in fact." she said, knowing better to take a first offer herself, either. "So how about 25 an hour. Flat rate, not per kid."
Yeah, right... if you did you wouldn't be bargaining. Tulilah made a dismissive noise in her throat. "Only if I only watch my dad and one other kid - one that's potty trained. Otherwise it's 35 an hour."
Izzy considered the situation for a moment - she could probably get better terms if she continued to counter; but time was of the essence here. "Thirty five it is."
Tulilah frowned a moment. That was too easy. She should have asked for more. "Okay. Thirty five. And unlimited replicator access."
"Done." Izzy sealed the deal with the firm yet persuasive lilt she'd leaned on during her time on Ferenginar. "I'll send someone by to help you all get to the designated area soon. You can see me after this is over for your payment. Thank you."
"Deal." Tulilah nodded firmly, and then her head snapped around at the sound of a plate flung like a frisbee crashing into wall. "DAD!!" She turned to go after him, pausing only to call over her shoulder. "Hurry - the clock starts now."
Izzy strode purposefully out of the Cel quarters, one hand marking it on her padd as she walked, already heading for the next slot on her list.
